Identifying Support Effects in Au-Catalyzed CO Oxidation

Some catalytic oxide supports are more equal than others, with numerous variable properties ranging from crystal symmetry to surface chemistry and electronic structure. As a consequence, it is often very difficult to determine which of these act as the driver of performance changes observed in catalysis. In this work, we hold many of these variable properties constant with structurally similar LnScO(3) (Ln = La, Sm, and Nd) nanoparticle supports with cuboidal shapes and a common Sc-rich surface termination. Using CO oxidation over supported Au nanoparticles as a probe reaction, we observe higher activation energy and a slower rate using NdScO3 as the support material. This change is found to correlate to the strength of CO2 binding to the support surface, identified by temperature-programmed desorption measurements. The change is due to differences in the 4f electrons of the lanthanide cations, the cations' Lewis acidity, and the inductive effect they impose.

Automated summary

In this study, the use of structurally similar LnScO(3) nanoparticles as supports reveals that NdScO3 support material exhibits higher activation energy and slower rate in CO oxidation, which is attributed to differences in CO2 binding strength to the support surface.