Wet-Chemistry Strong Metal-Support Interactions in Titania-Supported Au Catalysts

Jian Zhang; Hai Wang; Liang Wang; Sajjad Ali; Chengtao Wang; Lingxiang Wang; Xiangju Meng; Bo Li; Dang Sheng Su; Feng-Shou Xiao

doi:10.1021/jacs.8b10864

Wet-Chemistry Strong Metal-Support Interactions in Titania-Supported Au Catalysts

J Am Chem Soc. 2019 Feb 20;141(7):2975-2983. doi: 10.1021/jacs.8b10864. Epub 2019 Feb 6.

Authors

Jian Zhang^{1

2}, Hai Wang³, Liang Wang³, Sajjad Ali⁴, Chengtao Wang¹, Lingxiang Wang¹, Xiangju Meng¹, Bo Li⁴, Dang Sheng Su^{4

5}, Feng-Shou Xiao^{3

1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Applied Chemistry of Zhejiang Province, Department of Chemistry , Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310028 , China.
² Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering , Beijing University of Chemical Technology , Beijing 100029 , China.
³ Key Lab of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering , Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310027 , China.
⁴ Shenyang National Laboratory of Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research , Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shenyang 110016 , China.
⁵ Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics , Chinese Academy of Sciences , Dalian 116023 , China.

PMID: 30677301
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b10864

Abstract

Classical strong metal-support interactions (SMSI), which play a crucial role in the preparation of supported metal nanoparticle catalysts, is one of the most important concepts in heterogeneous catalysis. The conventional wisdom for construction of classical SMSI involves in redox treatments at high-temperatures by molecular oxygen or hydrogen, sometimes causing sintered metal nanoparticles before SMSI formation. Herein, we report that the aforementioned issue can be effectively avoided by a wet-chemistry methodology. As a typical example, we demonstrate a new concept of wet-chemistry SMSI (wcSMSI) that can be constructed on titania-supported Au nanoparticles (Au/TiO₂-wcSMSI), where the key is to employ a redox interaction between Au^δ+ and Ti³⁺ precursors in aqueous solution. The wcSMSI is evidenced by covering Au nanoparticles with the TiO _x overlayer, electronic interaction between Au and TiO₂, and suppression of CO adsorption on Au nanoparticles. Owing to the wcSMSI, the Au-TiO _x interface with an improved redox property is favorable for oxygen activation, accelerating CO oxidation. In addition, the oxide overlayer efficiently stabilizes the Au nanoparticles, achieving sinter-resistant Au/TiO₂-wcSMSI catalyst in CO oxidation.