In-situ DRIFTS study of chemically etched CeO2 nanorods supported transition metal oxide catalysts

In this work, hydrothermally synthesized CeO2 nanorods (CeO2NR) were chemically etched by strong reducing agent NaBH4 with 0.6 similar to 30 wt% addition, and further transition metal (TM) oxides (TM: Cu, Co, Ni, Fe and Mn) were loaded on the surface modified 6 wt% NaBH4-CeO2NR powder (mCeO(2)NR) to prepare mCeO(2)NR supported TM oxide catalysts. Both mCeO(2)NR supports (treated by 0.6-30 wt% NaBH4) and mCeO(2)NR supported TM oxide catalysts were employed to investigate the effect of chemical etching on their surface structure, CO adsorption, CO2 desorption and catalytic performance. Compared with pristine CeO2NR, one strong CO adsorption band for polydentate carbonate is found from in situ DRITFS as a result of NaBH4 etching, which can explain the enhanced low temperature reducibility and catalytic performance of mCeO(2)NR supports and mCeO(2)NR supported TM oxide catalysts. The vibrational band signals of bicarbonate, monodentate/bidentate/ polydentate carbonate and bridged carbonate are detected in all mCeO(2)NR supported TM catalysts and the effect of CO adsorption mode on CO oxidation activity is discussed.

Automated summary

In this study, CeO2 nanorods were chemically etched and transition metal oxides were loaded on the surface to prepare catalysts. Results showed that the etching process enhanced low-temperature reducibility and catalytic performance, and the effect of CO adsorption mode on CO oxidation activity was discussed.