Reaction Mechanisms for the CO Oxidation on Au/CeO2 Catalysts: Activity of Substitutional Au3+/Au+ Cations and Deactivation of Supported Au+ Adatoms

Density functional theory calculations that account for the on-site Coulomb interaction via a Hubbard term (DFT+U) reveal the mechanisms for the oxidation of CO catalyzed by isolated Au atoms as well as small clusters in Au/CeO2 catalysts. Ceria (111) surfaces containing positively charged Au ions, either as supported Au+ adatoms or as substitutional Au3+ ions, are shown to activate molecular CO and to catalyze its oxidation to CO2. In the case of supported single Au+ adatoms, the limiting rate for the CO oxidation is determined by the adsorbate spillover from the adatom to the oxide support. The reaction then proceeds with the CO oxidation via lattice oxygen and O vacancy formation. These vacancies are shown to readily attract the supported Au+ adatoms and to turn them into negatively charged Au delta- adspecies that deactivate the catalyst, preventing further CO adsorption. Au3+ ions dispersed into the ceria lattice as substitutional point defects can instead sustain a full catalytic cycle consisting of three individual steps maintaining their activity along the reaction process: Au cations in AuxCe1-xO2 systems promote multiple oxidations of CO without any activation energy via formation of surface O vacancies. Molecular oxygen adsorbs at these vacancies and forms O adspecies that then catalyze the oxidation of molecular CO, closing the catalytic cycle and recovering the stoichiometric AuxCe1-xO2 system. The interplay between the reversible Ce4+/Ce3+ and Au3+/Au+ reductions underpins the high catalytic activity of dispersed Au atoms into the ceria substrate. It is shown that the positive oxidation state of the substitutional Au ions is retained along the catalytic cycle, thus preventing the deactivation of AuxCe1-xO2 catalysts in operation conditions. Finally, although a single Au+ adatom bound to an O vacancy is shown to deactivate during CO oxidation, the calculations predict that the reactivity of gold nanoparticles nucleated at O vacancies can be recovered for cluster sizes as small as Au-2.