Influence of the CeO2 Support on the Reduction Properties of Cu/CeO2 and Ni/CeO2 Nanoparticles

Ceria (CeO2) is being increasingly used as support of metallic nanoparticles in catalysis due to its unique redox properties. Shedding light into the nature of the strong metal support interaction (SMSI) effect in CeO2-containing catalysts is important since it has a strong influence on the catalytic properties of the system. In this work, Cu/CeO2 and Ni/CeO2 nanoparticles are characterized when submitted to a reduction treatment at 500 degrees C in H-2 atmosphere with a combination of in situ (XAS X-ray absorption spectroscopy and time-resolved XAS) and ex situ (TEM transmission electron microscopy and XPS - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) techniques. The existence of a capping layer decorating the Ni/CeO2 nanoparticles after the reduction treatment is shown, representing evidence for the SMSI effect. The kinetics of the SMSI occurrence is elucidated. It is proposed that the electronic factor of the SMSI effect has a strong influence on the reduction properties of the Ni nanoparticles supported on CeO2, decreasing its reduction temperature if compared to nonsupported Ni nanoparticles. The same phenomenon is not observed for Cu/CeO2 nanoparticles, where there is no evidence for the SMSI effect, and no changes on the reduction properties between supported and nonsupported Cu nanoparticles are observed.