Preparation and reduction behavior of Mo-Cu powders by Sol-Gel

Abstract

Mo-Cu composite powders were prepared by the Sol-Gel method using citric acid as chelating reagent. The composition, morphology and particle size of the powders were studied by the XRD and TEM. TEM observation result shows the particle size of Mo-Cu powders is about 150nm after reduction and the Mo grains are covered homogeneously by Cu on the surface. The reduction behavior and mechanism were analyzed systematically. Temperature programmed reduction (TPR) results indicate that the appropriate two-step reduction temperatures are 500°C and 700°C, respectively. The results from FT-IR show that the bond of Mo=O is weakened due to the bond of Cu-O-Mo, which leads to the increase of the reduction capability of the Mo-Cu composite oxide powders. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.