Provided is a method for producing at least one of an unsaturated aldehyde and an unsaturated carboxylic acid from an alkene by an oxidation reaction, in which a n-layered catalyst layer (n≥2) is provided in a gas flow direction in a reaction tube, two or more kinds of catalysts having different activities are used; and the catalysts are packed in such a manner that dT≤20° C. is satisfied, when a difference between a temperature PT.sub.n of an exothermic peak in a n-th layer as counted from a gas inlet and a minimum value mT.sub.n−1 of a temperature of a catalyst layer which appears between an exothermic peak in a (n-1)th layer and an exothermic peak in a n-th layer from the gas inlet is represented as dT (=PT.sub.n−mT.sub.n−1), and the change rate of dT is 2.5 or less at a reaction bath temperature within a range of ±6° C. of a reaction bath temperature at which the highest yield is obtained.

The present invention provides a catalyst for the decomposition of nitrous oxide, said catalyst comprising oxides of cobalt, zinc and aluminum and an alkali metal promoter.

The present invention provides a catalyst for the decomposition of nitrous oxide, said catalyst comprising oxides of cobalt, zinc and aluminum and an alkali metal promoter.

Disclosed are a mesoporous composite oxide catalyst, a method for preparing the same and a method for synthesizing 1,3-butadidne using the same. The surface area is increased by introducing certain porous silica into preparation of a catalyst for synthesizing 1,3-butadiene, thereby improving a conversion ratio of normal-butene, and selectivity and yield of 1,3-butadiene, and providing economic efficiency from the viewpoint of decreasing an amount of used metal and reducing catalyst production cost.

Disclosed are a mesoporous composite oxide catalyst, a method for preparing the same and a method for synthesizing 1,3-butadidne using the same. The surface area is increased by introducing certain porous silica into preparation of a catalyst for synthesizing 1,3-butadiene, thereby improving a conversion ratio of normal-butene, and selectivity and yield of 1,3-butadiene, and providing economic efficiency from the viewpoint of decreasing an amount of used metal and reducing catalyst production cost.

A photocatalyst and a method for producing hydrogen and oxygen from water by photocatalytic electrolysis are disclosed. The photocatalyst includes a photoactive material and metal or metal alloy material (15)—e.g. pure particles or alloys of Au, Pd and Ag—capable of having plasmon resonance properties deposited on the surface of the photoactive material. The photoactive material includes a p-n junction (17) formed by contact of a n-type semiconductor material (10), such as mixed phase TiO2 nano particles (anatase to rutile ratio of 1.5 to 1 or greater), and a p-type semiconductor material (16), such as CoO or Cu2O.

A photocatalyst and a method for producing hydrogen and oxygen from water by photocatalytic electrolysis are disclosed. The photocatalyst includes a photoactive material and metal or metal alloy material (15)—e.g. pure particles or alloys of Au, Pd and Ag—capable of having plasmon resonance properties deposited on the surface of the photoactive material. The photoactive material includes a p-n junction (17) formed by contact of a n-type semiconductor material (10), such as mixed phase TiO2 nano particles (anatase to rutile ratio of 1.5 to 1 or greater), and a p-type semiconductor material (16), such as CoO or Cu2O.

Provided is a method for producing an aliphatic alcohol having 8 or more and 22 or less carbon atoms through hydrogenation of a fatty acid or a fatty acid ester using a catalyst, wherein the catalyst carries a catalyst metal on a support, (a) the catalyst contains one or more elements selected from Co and Cu as the catalyst metal, (b) the total pore volume of the catalyst is 0.05 mL/g or more, and (c) the volume of pores with a pore size of 0.1 μm or more and 500 μm or less is 50% or more of the total pore volume of the catalyst.

Provided is a method for producing an aliphatic alcohol having 8 or more and 22 or less carbon atoms through hydrogenation of a fatty acid or a fatty acid ester using a catalyst, wherein the catalyst carries a catalyst metal on a support, (a) the catalyst contains one or more elements selected from Co and Cu as the catalyst metal, (b) the total pore volume of the catalyst is 0.05 mL/g or more, and (c) the volume of pores with a pore size of 0.1 μm or more and 500 μm or less is 50% or more of the total pore volume of the catalyst.

The invention relates to a catalyst material comprising a support, a first metal and a second metal on said support. The first and second metals are in the form of a chemical compound. The first metal is Fe, Co or Ni, and the second metal is selected from the group consisting of Sn, Zn and In. The invention also relates to a process for the preparation of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) from methane (CH.sub.4) and ammonia (NH.sub.3), wherein the methane and ammonia are contacted with a catalyst according to the invention.