Unraveling distinct effects between CuO<sub>x</sub> and PtCu alloy sites in Pt-Cu bimetallic catalysts for CO oxidation at different temperatures.

Li, Yunan; Guo, Lingling; Du, Meng; Tian, Chen; Zhao, Gui; Liu, Zhengwu; Liang, Zhenye; Hou, Kunming et al. · Nat Commun · 2024

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

In situ exploration of the dynamic structure evolution of catalysts plays a key role in revealing reaction mechanisms and designing efficient catalysts. In this work, PtCu/MgO catalysts, synthesized via the co-impregnation method, outperforms monometallic Pt/MgO and Cu/MgO. Utilizing quasi/in-situ characterization techniques, it is discovered that there is an obvious structural evolution over PtCu/MgO from Pt<sub>x</sub>Cu<sub>y</sub>O<sub>z</sub> oxide cluster to PtCu alloy with surface CuO<sub>x</sub> species under different redox and CO oxidation reaction conditions. The synergistic effect between PtCu alloy and CuO<sub>x</sub> species enables good CO oxidation activity through the regulation of CO adsorption and O<sub>2</sub> dissociation. At low temperatures, CO oxidation is predominantly catalyzed by surface CuO<sub>x</sub> species via the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism, in which CuO<sub>x</sub> can provide abundant active oxygen species. As the reaction temperature increases, both surface CuO<sub>x</sub> species and PtCu alloy collaborate to activate gaseous oxygen, facilitating CO oxidation mainly through the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism.