Geometric and electronic structure of Au on Au/CeO2 catalysts during the CO oxidation: Deactivation by reaction induced particle growth

Abstract

Abstract Changes of the geometric and electronic structure of gold on Au/CeO2 catalysts induced by different pre-treatments (oxidative and reductive) and by the CO oxidation reaction at 80°C were followed by operando XANES / EXAFS measurements. The results showed that i) oxidative pre-treatment (O2) leads to larger Au nanoparticles than reductive pre-treatment (CO), that ii) Au is predominantly metallic during CO oxidation, irrespective of the preceding pre-treatment, and that iii) there is a reaction induced Au particle growth. Correlations with the activity of the respective catalysts and its temporal evolution give insights into the origin of deactivation of these catalysts under reaction conditions, in particular on reaction induced changes in the Au particle size.