Catalytic performance of K-Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 catalysts for soot combustion

xK-Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 catalysts were prepared by incipient-wetness impregnation method, and the catalytic activities for the soot combustion were studied using TPO. XRD, BET, FT-IR and YCPS were used to investigate the influences of KNO3 concentration on the catalytic activities for soot combustion. It was found that the KNO3 had great effect on the surface area and the chemical environment. Compare with Ce0.5Zr0.5O2, the catalytic activities of xK-Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 for soot combustion were improved significantly; the catalyst with x =0.5 had the best catalytic performance, on which T-i and T-p were 290 degrees C and 360 degrees C, respectively. The results suggested that the formation of K2CO3 and molten KNO3 phase during the reaction course promoted the catalytic activities obviously.