Insights into the role of surface oxygen vacancy in CuCeO2 catalyst for reverse water gas shift
Yue Yu, Wenxuan Xia, Aiping Yu, David S. A. Simakov, Luis Ricardez‐Sandoval
Abstract
This study presents the synthesis, characterization, and performance evaluation of copper-doped ceria (Cu/CeO2) catalysts with varying Cu/(Cu + Ce) atomic percentages in the context of the reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations revealed that higher Cu loadings promote stronger CO2 adsorption due to enhanced formation of OVs through Cu doping. Catalysts exhibited 100 % selectivity toward CO in the 450–600 °C range indicating the Cu doped CeO2 is a promising candidate for RWGS. Higher Cu loadings were found to enhance CO2 conversion, particularly at 600 °C. Insights gained from this work revealed that lowering OV formation energy and enhancing CO2 activation are key to improving RWGS activity in the presence of doped ceria (Cu/CeO2) catalysts.