CeO/CuO/Cu Tandem Interfaces for Efficient Water-Gas Shift Reaction Catalysis.

Metal-oxide interfaces on Cu-based catalysts play very important roles in the low-temperature water-gas shift reaction (LT-WGSR). However, developing catalysts with abundant, active, and robust Cu-metal oxide interfaces under LT-WGSR conditions remains challenging. Herein, we report the successful development of an inverse copper-ceria catalyst (Cu@CeO), which exhibited very high efficiency for the LT-WGSR. At a reaction temperature of 250 °C, the LT-WGSR activity of the Cu@CeO catalyst was about three times higher than that of a pristine Cu catalyst without CeO. Comprehensive quasi-in situ structural characterizations indicated that the Cu@CeO catalyst was rich in CeO/CuO/Cu tandem interfaces. Reaction kinetics studies and density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the Cu/Cu interfaces were the active sites for the LT-WGSR, while adjacent CeO nanoparticles play a key role in activating HO and stabilizing the Cu/Cu interfaces. Our study highlights the role of the CeO/CuO/Cu tandem interface in regulating catalyst activity and stability, thus contributing to the development of improved Cu-based catalysts for the LT-WGSR.