In situ studies on ceria promoted cobalt oxide for CO oxidation

In situ studies of catalysts play valuable roles in observing phase transformation, understanding the corresponding surface chemistry and the mechanism of the reaction. In this paper, ceria promoted cobalt oxide was prepared by the calcination method and investigated for the CO oxidation. The microstructure and morphology of CeO2-Co3O4 were investigated by the Scanning Electron Microscope, High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization. The effect of CeO2 doping on Co3O4 for CO oxidation was characterized by in situ X-ray Diffraction (in situ XRD) and in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (in situ DRIFTS). In situ XRD was carried out under H2 atmosphere to evaluate the redox property of catalysts. The results indicated that the ceria doping can enhance the reducibility of Co2+ and promote the Co3+—Co2+—Co3+ cycle, owing to the oxygen replenish property of CeO2. Furthermore, adsorbed carbonate species on the surface of CeO2-Co3O4 were investigated by in situ-DRIFTS experiment. It was turned out that carbonate species on ceria promoted cobalt oxide catalysts showed different IR peaks compared with pure cobalt oxide. The carbonate species on ceria promoted catalyst are more active, and similar to free state carbonate species with weak bonding to catalyst surface, which can effectively inhibit catalyst inactivation. This study revealed the mechanism of ceria promoting CO oxidation over cobalt oxide, which will provide theoretical support for the design of efficient CO oxidation catalysts.