Applied Catalysis A: General 270 (2004) 135–141 Gold catalysts supported on mesoporous titania for low-temperature water–gas shift reaction V. Idakiev a,∗ , T. Tabakova a , Z.-Y. Yuan b , B.-L. Su b a Institute of Catalysis, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev str., bl. 11, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria b Laboratory of Inorganic Materials Chemistry (ISIS), The University of Namur (FUNDP), 61 Rue de Bruxelles, B-5000 Namur, Belgium Received in revised form 27 April 2004; accepted 29 April 2004 Available online 1 June 2004 Abstract Mesoporous titania with high surface area and uniform pore size distribution was synthesized using surfactant templating method through a neutral [C 13 (EO) 6 –Ti(OC 3 H 7 ) 4 ] assembly pathway. The different gold content (1–5wt.%) was supported on the mesoporous titania by deposition–precipitation (DP) method. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, TEM, SEM, N 2 adsorption analysis and TPR. The catalytic activity of gold supported mesoporous titania was evaluated for the first time in water–gas shift reaction (WGSR). The influence of gold content and particle size on the catalytic performance was investigated. The catalytic activity was tested at a wide temperature range (140–300 ◦ C) and at different space velocities and H 2 O/CO ratios. It is clearly revealed that the mesoporous titania is of much interest as potential support for gold-based catalyst. The gold/mesoporous titania catalytic system is found to be effective catalyst for WGSR. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Gold catalysts; Mesoporous titania; Water–gas shift reaction 1. Introduction The mesoporous materials with different compositions, new pore systems and novel properties have attracted con- siderable attention because of their remarkably large surface areas and narrow pore size distributions, which make them ideal candidates for catalysts [1]. Recently, much attention has been paid to the synthesis of nanostructured mesoporous oxides using surfactant templating method. It has been de- veloped for the synthesis of materials with a narrow meso- pore size distribution and controlled pore structure [2–6]. Neutral templating route has important advantages because most metals form alkoxides or other neutral complexes suit- able for hydrolysis and assembly as neutral inorganic pre- cursors [7]. It is generally anticipated that the use of a high surface area mesoporous oxide support, rather than a commercial, low surface area support, for noble metals or transition met- als has some beneficial effect on the catalytic performance ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +359-2-979-2528; fax: +359-2-971-2967. E-mail address: idakiev@ic.bas.bg (V. Idakiev). [8].The mesoporous support would give rise to well dis- persed and stable metal particles on the surface upon cal- cination and reduction and as a consequence would show an improved catalytic performance. It was suggested a good possibility to apply these materials for the first time as sup- ports for gold catalysts. Mesoporous titania and zirconia have been found to be promising supports for gold-based catalysts in complete benzene oxidation [9]. The interest in gold-containing catalysts has very rapidly increased due to their high activity at low temperatures in a lot of important reactions [10–12]. Water–gas shift reaction (WGSR) has recently been attracting rapidly growing inter- est due to fuel cell power systems development and needs of pure hydrogen production. Moreover, WGSR is one of the key steps involved in the automobile exhaust processes, converting CO with water to hydrogen and carbon dioxide and including the produced hydrogen as a very effective re- ductant for NO x removal. The catalytic activity and espe- cially the stability of gold catalysts strongly depend on both the state and structure of the support and the specific inter- action between gold and support. The type of the support is of crucial importance to the obtaining of highly dispersed gold particles and catalysts with good performance [13,14]. 0926-860X/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.apcata.2004.04.030