Probing the Reaction Intermediates for the Water–gas Shift over Inverse CeOx / Au(1 1 1) Catalysts
The water-gas shift (WGS) is an important reaction for the production of molecular H{sub 2} from CO and H{sub 2}O. An inverse CeO{sub x}/Au(1 1 1) catalyst exhibits a very good WGS activity, better than that of copper surfaces or Cu nanoparticles dispersed on a ZnO(0 0 0 {bar 1}) substrate which model current WGS industrial catalysts. In this work we report on intermediates likely to arise during the CO + H{sub 2}O reaction over CeO{sub x}/Au(1 1 1) using soft X-ray photoemission (sXPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). Several potential intermediates including formates (HCOO), carbonates (CO{sub 3}) and carboxylates (HOCO) are considered. Adsorption of HCOOH and CO{sub 2} is used to create both HCOO and CO{sub 3} on the CeO{sub x}/Au(1 1 1) surface, respectively. HCOO appears to have greater stability with desorption temperatures up to 600 K while CO{sub 3} only survives on the surface up to 300 K. On the CeO{sub x}/Au(1 1 1) catalysts, the presence of Ce{sup 3+} leads to the dissociation of H{sub 2}O to give OH groups. We demonstrate experimentally that the OH species are stable on the surface up to 600 K and interact with CO to yield weakly bound intermediates. When there is an abundance of Ce{sup 4+}, the OH concentration is diminished and the likely intermediates are carbonates. As the surface defects are increased and the Ce{sup 3+}/Ce{sup 4+} ratio grows, the OH concentration also grows and both carbonate and formate species are observed on the surface after dosing CO to H{sub 2}O/CeO{sub x}/Au(1 1 1). The addition of ceria nanoparticles to Au(1 1 1) is essential to generate an active WGS catalyst and to increase the production and stability of key reaction intermediates (OH, HCOO and CO{sub 3}).
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE - OFFICE OF SCIENCE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-98CH10886
- OSTI ID:
- 1019781
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-95627-2011-JA; JCTLA5; TRN: US201116%%538
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Catalysis, Vol. 271, Issue 2; ISSN 0021-9517
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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