Elucidating the Nature of the Cu(I) Active Site in CuO/TiO<sub>2</sub> for Excellent Low-Temperature CO Oxidation
Yarong Fang, Xiao Chi, Li Li, Ji Yang, Shoujie Liu, Xingxu Lu, Wen Xiao, Liming Wang, Zhu Luo, Weiwei Yang, Siyu Hu, Juxia Xiong, Son Hoang, Hongtao Deng, Fudong Liu, Lizhi Zhang, Pu‐Xian Gao, Jun Ding, Yanbing Guo
Abstract
Stabilized Cu+ species have been widely considered as catalytic active sites in composite copper catalysts for catalytic reactions with industrial importance. However, few examples comprehensively explicated the origin of stabilized Cu+ in a low-cost and widely investigated CuO/TiO2 system. In this study, mass producible CuO/TiO2 catalysts with interface-stabilized Cu+ were prepared, which showed excellent low-temperature CO oxidation activity. A thorough characterization and theoretical calculations proved that the strong charge-transfer effect and Ti–O–Cu hybridization in Ti-doped CuO(111) at the CuO/TiO2 interface contributed to the formation and stabilization of Cu+ species. The CO molecule adsorbed on Cu+ and reacted directly with Ti doping-promoted active lattice oxygen via a Mars–van Krevelen mechanism, leading to the enhanced low-temperature activity.