Issue 12, 2024

Stable mass-selected AuTiOx nanoparticles for CO oxidation

Abstract

Stability under reactive conditions poses a common challenge for cluster- and nanoparticle-based catalysts. Since the catalytic properties of <5 nm gold nanoparticles were first uncovered, optimizing their stability at elevated temperatures for CO oxidation has been a central theme. Here we report direct observations of improved stability of AuTiOx alloy nanoparticles for CO oxidation compared with pure Au nanoparticles on TiO2. The nanoparticles were synthesized using a magnetron sputtering, gas-phase aggregation cluster source, size-selected using a lateral time-of-flight mass filter and deposited onto TiO2-coated micro-reactors for thermocatalytic activity measurements of CO oxidation. The AuTiOx nanoparticles exhibited improved stability at elevated temperatures, which is attributed to a self-anchoring interaction with the TiO2 substrate. The structure of the AuTiOx nanoparticles was also investigated in detail using ion scattering spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The measurements showed that the alloyed nanoparticles exhibited a core–shell structure with an Au core surrounded by an AuTiOx shell. The structure of these alloy nanoparticles appeared stable even at temperatures up to 320 °C under reactive conditions, for more than 140 hours. The work presented confirms the possibility of tuning catalytic activity and stability via nanoparticle alloying and self-anchoring on TiO2 substrates, and highlights the importance of complementary characterization techniques to investigate and optimize nanoparticle catalyst designs of this nature.

Graphical abstract: Stable mass-selected AuTiOx nanoparticles for CO oxidation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 jan 2024
Accepted
26 feb 2024
First published
04 mar 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024,26, 9253-9263

Stable mass-selected AuTiOx nanoparticles for CO oxidation

R. E. Tankard, F. Romeggio, S. K. Akazawa, A. Krabbe, O. F. Sloth, N. M. Secher, S. Colding-Fagerholt, S. Helveg, R. Palmer, C. D. Damsgaard, J. Kibsgaard and I. Chorkendorff, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 9253 DOI: 10.1039/D4CP00211C

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements