Constructing copper-ceria nanosheets with high concentration of interfacial active sites for enhanced performance in CO oxidation

Abstract The interaction of the metal and support in copper-ceria oxide catalysts has been proven to have extremely favorable effects on catalytic performance in CO oxidation. Therefore, how to construct more copper-ceria interfaces becomes the key to improve the catalytic activity. Herein, we developed a facile approach to prepare copper-ceria nanosheets with high concentration of interfacial active sites (active copper species sites and oxygen vacancies) using GO as a sacrificial template. Notably, GO was used as an excellent platform to grow precursors of both the Cu and Ce on its surface. Then, transfer them to metal oxides nanosheets by calcination. The CuCe-GO-X catalysts were characterized by SEM, TEM, In situ DRIFT, AFM, XRD, XPS, H 2 -TPR and Raman spectra and applied in CO oxidation. The results demonstrate that CuCe-GO-600 nanosheets catalyst with about 10 nm thickness shows a higher concentration of oxygen vacancies (7.79%) and active copper species sites (2756 μmol g −1 ) in the interface of copper-ceria than those of other CuCe-GO-X catalysts. Moreover, CuCe-GO-600 displays a highest catalytic activity (complete conversion at 90 °C with a space velocity of 54,000 mL (h g cat ) −1 ).