Dynamic structure of active sites in ceria-supported Pt catalysts for the water gas shift reaction
Yuanyuan Li, Matthew Kottwitz, Joshua Vincent, Michael J. Enright, Zongyuan Liu, Lihua Zhang, Jiahao Huang, Sanjaya D. Senanayake, Wei‐Chang Yang, Peter A. Crozier, Ralph G. Nuzzo, Anatoly I. Frenkel
Abstract
Abstract Oxide-supported noble metal catalysts have been extensively studied for decades for the water gas shift (WGS) reaction, a catalytic transformation central to a host of large volume processes that variously utilize or produce hydrogen. There remains considerable uncertainty as to how the specific features of the active metal-support interfacial bonding—perhaps most importantly the temporal dynamic changes occurring therein—serve to enable high activity and selectivity. Here we report the dynamic characteristics of a Pt/CeO 2 system at the atomic level for the WGS reaction and specifically reveal the synergistic effects of metal-support bonding at the perimeter region. We find that the perimeter Pt 0 − O vacancy−Ce 3+ sites are formed in the active structure, transformed at working temperatures and their appearance regulates the adsorbate behaviors. We find that the dynamic nature of this site is a key mechanistic step for the WGS reaction.