Combustion of methane over palladium catalysts supported on metallic foil

Fecralloy foils washcoated with dispersed palladium oxide on alumina have been tested in the complete oxidation of methane. Activity and stability have been investigated before and after heat-treatments of the foil catalysts performed at 650 and 800°C. High Pd-loaded catalyst was less active and more stable than that low-Pd loaded. Thermal treatments at 800°C led to an increase of activity but the stability decreased compared with fresh catalysts. Surface composition of the differently treated catalysts was studied by surface spectroscopy (XPS) and electron microscopy (SEM-EDS) to find relations between property and activity.