Decoration of Pt on Cu/Co double-doped CeO2 nanospheres and their greatly enhanced catalytic activity

Abstract

In this paper, we report an efficient strategy for the synthesis of Cu/Co double-doped CeO₂ nanospheres (Cu_xCo_1−x–CeO₂–Pt, 0 ≤ x ≤ 1), which were fabricated via a simple water–glycol system. The following in situ surface decoration of Pt nanoparticles make these nanospheres highly active for the catalytic reduction of nitrophenol and CO oxidation. Detailed tests show that their catalytic performance strongly depends on the doping components and ion concentration of Cu and Co ions. The best samples of Cu_0.50Co_0.50–CeO₂–Pt and Cu_0.34Co_0.66–CeO₂–Pt demonstrate an excellent turnover frequency (TOF) of more than 450 h⁻¹ after five cycles and retains about 99% conversion by using NH₃BH₃ as a reductant to reduce nitrophenol. Moreover, Cu_0.50Co_0.50–CeO₂–Pt possesses a much lower light-off and T₁₀₀ (the temperature for 100% CO oxidation) temperature compared with the other catalysts.