Study of Carbon Monoxide Oxidation Kinetics on Bio-synthesized of Ag Nanoparticles/Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes (Ag/MWF-CNT) Nano-Catalysts under Various Conditions

In the present work, the bio-synthesis process of Ag/MWf-CNT nano-catalyst system by the use of Aspergillus fumigatus fungus has been investigated. To characterize the bio-synthesized nano-catalysit, UV-Vis, FT-IR, XRD, TEM and SAED have been employed. The results confirmed the formation of well-dispersed spherical silver nano-particles (d≤10 nm) on CNT. The Ag/MWF-CNT was successfully employed as the CO oxidation catalyst. A fluidized bed reactor was used to conduct the experiments. The effects of gas flow rate, catalyst mass on gas oxidation rate and catalyst stability were examined during the oxidation process of CO. The CO oxidation reaction starts at 60 oC and finishes at 250 oC (nearly 100% oxidation). Additionally, the durability of the catalyst system was estimated 10 hours and after this period, the catalytic activity gradually decreased. The activation energy of the CO oxidation reaction was in the range of 51 to 67 kJ/mol, which is lower than reported values.