Sacrificial Adsorbate Strategy Achieved Strong Metal–Support Interaction of Stable Cu Nanocatalysts

A new adsorbate-mediated strategy was developed to enhance the metal–support interaction of Cu/CeO2, aiming to improve its catalytic activity and sintering resistance in the water–gas shift (WGS) reaction. By treating Cu/CeO2 in a 20CO2/2H2 gas mixture for the formation of surface HCOn (n = 2, 3), there was significant enhancement of the interaction between CeO2 and Cu. The HCOn adsorbate was removed through calcination in an O2/Ar atmosphere at 400 °C for 6 h. The as-obtained Cu/CeO2 catalyst was compared with the untreated counterpart in the WGS reaction. It was observed that CO conversion at 350 °C was 86% and 47%, respectively, over the two catalysts. The superiority of the former is attributed to the enhanced interaction between Cu and CeO2. In a run of 15 h at 400 °C, the treated catalyst showed no obvious sign of deactivation.