Solid frustrated-Lewis-pair catalysts constructed by regulations on surface defects of porous nanorods of CeO<sub>2</sub>.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28516952.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms15266 and PMC identifier 5454379.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Identification on catalytic sites of heterogeneous catalysts at atomic level is important to understand catalytic mechanism. Surface engineering on defects of metal oxides can construct new active sites and regulate catalytic activity and selectivity. Here we outline the strategy by controlling surface defects of nanoceria to create the solid frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) metal oxide for efficient hydrogenation of alkenes and alkynes. Porous nanorods of ceria (PN-CeO<sub>2</sub>) with a high concentration of surface defects construct new Lewis acidic sites by two adjacent surface Ce<sup>3+</sup>. The neighbouring surface lattice oxygen as Lewis base and constructed Lewis acid create solid FLP site due to the rigid lattice of ceria, which can easily dissociate H-H bond with low activation energy of 0.17 eV.