Preparation and catalytic performance of mesoporous ceria-base composites CuO/CeO 2 , Fe 2 O 3 /CeO 2 and La 2 O 3 /CeO 2

Mesoporous CeO2-based oxides (CuO/CeO2, Fe2O3/CeO2 and La2O3/CeO2) were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method. CeO2-based oxides showed the undoped flower-like mesoporous microspheres of 2–6 μm in diameter with high BET surface areas. Copper, iron or lanthanum ions were each successfully doped into ceria and the dopants enhanced the amount of Ce3+ in cerium in all samples, which improved the oxygen mobility and the amount of surface active oxygen. The synthesized CeO2-based oxides showed significantly improved catalytic activity toward the oxidation of styrene, among which CuO/CeO2 exhibited the highest activity of 92.5% conversion. The catalytic activity of the composites was demonstrated to closely parallel their surface area and surface active oxygen atom sites.