Breaking structure sensitivity in CO2 hydrogenation by tuning metal–oxide interfaces in supported cobalt nanoparticles

DOI: 10.1038/s41929-022-00874-4

Authors: Alexander Parastaev (Eindhoven University of Technology) , Valery Muravev (Eindhoven University of Technology) , Elisabet Huertas Osta (Eindhoven University of Technology) , Tobias F. Kimpel (Eindhoven University of Technology) , Jérôme F. M. Simons (Eindhoven University of Technology) , Arno J. F. Van Hoof (Eindhoven University of Technology) , Evgeny Uslamin (Eindhoven University of Technology) , Long Zhang (Eindhoven University of Technology) , Job J. C. Struijs (Eindhoven University of Technology) , Dudari B. Burueva (International Tomography Center (Russia); Novosibirsk State University) , Ekaterina V. Pokochueva (International Tomography Center (Russia); Novosibirsk State University) , Kirill V. Kovtunov (International Tomography Center (Russia)) , Igor V. Koptyug (International Tomography Center (Russia)) , Ignacio J. Villar-Garcia (International Tomography Center (Russia)) , Carlos Escudero (ALBA Synchrotron Light Source) , Thomas Altantzis (University of Antwerp) , Pei Liu (University of Antwerp) , Armand Béché (University of Antwerp) , Sara Bals (University of Antwerp) , Nikolay Kosinov (Eindhoven University of Technology) , Emiel J. M. Hensen (Eindhoven University of Technology)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Nature Catalysis , VOL 46

State: Published (Approved)
Published: November 2022
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 20715

Abstract: A high dispersion of the active metal phase of transition metals on oxide supports is important when designing efficient heterogeneous catalysts. Besides nanoparticles, clusters and even single metal atoms can be attractive for a wide range of reactions. However, many industrially relevant catalytic transformations suffer from structure sensitivity, where reducing the size of the metal particles below a certain size substantially lowers catalytic performance. A case in point is the low activity of small cobalt nanoparticles in the hydrogenation of CO and CO2. Here we show how engineering of catalytic sites at the metal–oxide interface in cerium oxide–zirconium dioxide (ceria–zirconia)-supported cobalt can overcome this structure sensitivity. Few-atom cobalt clusters dispersed on 3 nm cobalt(II)-oxide particles stabilized by ceria–zirconia yielded a highly active CO2 methanation catalyst with a specific activity higher than that of larger particles under the same conditions.

Journal Keywords: Catalytic mechanisms; Heterogeneous catalysis; Nanoparticles

Subject Areas: Chemistry, Materials


Instruments: B18-Core EXAFS

Other Facilities: CIRCE at ALBA

Added On: 22/11/2022 09:51

Discipline Tags:

Physical Chemistry Catalysis Chemistry Materials Science Nanoscience/Nanotechnology

Technical Tags:

Spectroscopy X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES)