A CORRECTED PROCEDURE AND CONSISTENT INTERPRETATION FOR TEMPERATURE-PROGRAMMED REDUCTION OF SUPPORTED MOO3

Experiments in which bulk MoO3 has been diluted in silica or alumina r eveal a ''corrected'' TPR pattern in which the bulk oxide reduces at t he same temperature as the supported crystalline phase. The reduction patterns for diluted bulk MoO3, in conjunction with an XRD study of th e reduction process and a recent comprehensive speciation theory have greatly assisted the assignment of peaks for silica and alumina suppor ted samples. A simple interpretation of TPR patterns has been applied with good agreement to the body of MoO3 TPR literature. With consisten t interpretation, temperature programmed reduction might be employed w ith increased confidence to characterize supported MoO3 and perhaps ot her supported oxides.