A Rational Design of the Sintering-Resistant Au-CeO₂ Nanoparticles Catalysts for CO Oxidation: The Influence of H₂ Pretreatments.

The redox pretreatment of samples is one of the crucial ways of altering the catalytic properties of the supported noble metal materials in many heterogeneous reactions. Here, H₂-reducing pretreatment is reported to enhance the thermal stability of Au-CeO₂ catalysts prepared by the deposition⁻precipitation method and calcination at 600 °C for CO oxidation. In order to understand the improved activity and thermal stability, a series of techniques were used to characterize the physico-chemical changes of the catalyst samples. H₂ pretreatment may lead to: (i) a strong metal⁻support interaction (SMSI) between Au nanoparticles (NPs) and CeO₂, evidenced by the particular coverage of Au NPs by CeO₂, electronic interactions and CO adsorption changes. (ii) the production of surface bicarbonates which can accelerate CO oxidation. As a result, the H₂ pretreatment makes the Au NPs more resistant to sintering at high temperature and enhances the CO oxidation activity. Furthermore, this reduction pretreatment strategy may provide a potential approach to enhance the thermal-stability of other supported noble metal catalysts.