Doping Manganese Oxides with Ceria and Ceria Zirconia Using a One-Pot Sol–Gel Method for Low Temperature Diesel Oxidation Catalysts

Octahedral molecular sieves (OMS-2) are an interesting form of manganese oxide with a 2 × 2 edge sharing tunnel structure and a cation positioned inside. Cryptomelane is an OMS-2 material with K+ cations within the crystalline tunnel and has been widely used in catalytic oxidation reactions, due to a mixed valency of Mn3+ and Mn4+ cations. Cryptomelane (K-OMS-2) can be modified by structural incorporation of various dopants and tunnel cations which can enhance the catalytic activity of the material. It also offers to be a promising alternative material for the low temperature emission control of combustion vehicles; particularly during cold start and low temperature conditions of diesel vehicles. In this work we used a one-pot sol–gel route to synthesize a range of manganese oxide based supports doped with Ce and CeZrO2, as alternative low temperature diesel oxidation catalysts. We have investigated the combination of manganese, ceria and zirconia in mixed oxide catalyst supports. The synthesized samples were loaded with 1 wt% Pt and their activity in the oxidation reactions of CO and C3H6, were compared with a commercial diesel oxidation catalyst with the same metal loading. The reductions in CO and C3H6 oxidation temperature T50 of 109 K and 81 K respectively was achieved compared to a commercial diesel oxidation catalyst.