Flame-synthesized ceria-supported copper dimers for preferential oxidation of CO

Richard Kydd, Wey Yang Teoh, Kenneth Wong, Yong Wang, Jason Scott, Qing-Hua Zeng, Ai-Bing Yu, Jin Zou, Rose Amal

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    123 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Rapid synthesis of Cu–CeO₂ catalysts by flame spray pyrolysis produces highly active Cu dimer morphologies without the need for additional catalyst pretreatment. The active Cu component is enriched onto the CeO₂ surface at concentrations higher than the nominal loading with no evidence of amorphous or crystalline CuO phase. Increasing the Cu content results in a morphological transition from isolated Cu monomers to oxygen-bridged dimers and an associated increase in oxygen vacancy concentration. Dimer-containing Cu–CeO₂ catalysts display high levels of activity and selectivity in the low-temperature preferential oxidation of CO. Experimental measurements and simulations suggest that the geometry of the dimer presents a comparatively ionic Cu–O bond at the catalyst surface. Further studies indicate that these ionic dimer species promote preferential CO oxidation at lower temperatures than observed for monomeric Cu species. This is the first report to explicitly propose and demonstrate that the structural distortion associated with the formation of Cu dimers directly induces increased bond ionicity at the catalyst surface and that these changes are responsible for improved catalytic activity.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)369-377
    Number of pages9
    JournalAdvanced Functional Materials
    Volume19
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2009

    Keywords

    • catalysts
    • cerium oxides
    • copper
    • dimers
    • flame spray pyrolysis
    • nanoparticles
    • oxidation

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