Preparation and characterization of activated carbon/Cu catalyst by electroless copper plating for removal of NO

The catalytic reduction of NO over activated carbons (ACs)/Cu prepared by electroless copper plating has been studied. It is found that copper content on carbon surfaces increased with increasing plating time. However, a slightly gradual decrease of adsorption properties as electroless plating time increases, including specific surface areas and total micropore volumes based on D-R and t-plot approaches, is observed within the range of well-developed micropore structures. The experimental results showed that the net heat of adsorption or BET's C of the AC/Cu samples is largely influenced by the amount of copper metal. Consequently, the catalytic ability of AC/Cu samples for NO removal is dependent on the copper content, adsorption properties of the specimens, and the reaction time on stream in the presence of oxygen.