Kinetics of CO2 Reduction over Nonstoichiometric Ceria

The kinetics of CO2 reduction over nonstoichimetric ceria, CeO2−δ, a material of high potential for thermochemical conversion of sunlight to fuel, has been investigated for a wide range of nonstoichiometries (0.02 ≤ δ ≤ 0.25), temperatures (693 ≤ T ≤ 1273 K), and CO2 concentrations (0.005 ≤ pCO2 ≤ 0.4 atm). Samples were reduced thermally at 1773 K to probe low nonstoichiometries (δ < 0.05) and chemically at lower temperatures in a H2 atmosphere to prevent particle sintering and probe the effect of higher nonstoichiometries (δ < 0.25). For extents greater than δ = 0.2, oxidation rates at a given nonstoichiometry are hindered for the duration of the reaction, presumably because of near-order changes, such as lattice compression, as confirmed via Raman Spectroscopy. Importantly, this behavior is reversible and oxidation rates are not affected at lower δ. Following thermal reduction at very low δ, however, oxidation rates are an order of magnitude slower than those of chemically reduced samples, and rates mon...