Preparation and characterization of Na4Mn9O18 whiskers on channel surface of cordierite honeycomb ceramics for soot catalytic combustion

Na4Mn9O18 whiskers were prepared on the wall of cordierite honeycomb ceramics using the molten salt synthesis, and Na4Mn9O18 whiskers were grew on channel surface of cordierite honeycomb ceramics to form hierarchical microstructure for catalytic combustion of soot. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the structural morphology and phase compositions. Na4Mn9O18 whiskers with aspect ratio of 24.4 measured by statistics. It was found that the loading rate of the monolithic catalyst reaches 3.588% while the binding rate after sonication almost no change. Whiskers are tightly combined with the cordierite ceramic substrate by the binding strength experiments and EDS analysis. The oxygen temperature-programmed desorption (O2-TPD) measurements were performed to investigate the O2 adsorption property. The catalytic performance of the samples were examined by semi-quantitative thermal gravimetric analysis (TG-DTG) and temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO). The catalyst performance study demonstrates that Na4Mn9O18 whiskers decrease the soot combustion temperature apparently. Experiments show the characteristic temperature could be reduced by increasing the catalyst loading. The Na4Mn9O18 decreased the ignition temperature of soot particles oxidation, and the cycle stability experiment confirmed that the sample (0h-m-k) has good structural stability and stable catalytic performance. The coarseness of the interface increased because Na4Mn9O18 whiskers grew on the cordierite substrate, and the trapping ability improved. Na4Mn9O18 is an important type of catalyst which is rarely studied in catalytic oxidation of soot. This catalyst displays good activity and stability in the soot catalytic oxidation. This unique microstructure has potential application in the DPF field.