Promotion effects in the oxidation of CO over zeolite-supported Pt nanoparticles

Well-defined Pt-nanoparticles with an average diameter of 1 nm supported on a series of zeolite Y samples containing different monovalent (H+, Na+, K+, Rb+, and Cs+) and divalent (Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+) cations have been used as model systems to investigate the effect of promotor elements in the oxidation of CO in excess oxygen. Time-resolved infrared spectroscopy measurements allowed us to study the temperature-programmed desorption of CO from supported Pt nanoparticles to monitor the electronic changes in the local environment of adsorbed CO. It was found that the red shift of the linear Pt-coordinated CO vibration compared to that of gas-phase CO increases with an increasing cation radius-to-charge ratio. In addition, a systematic shift from linear (L) to bridge (B) bonded CO was observed for decreasing Lewis acidity, as expressed by the Kamlet-Taft parameter alpha. A decreasing alpha results in an increasing electron charge on the framework oxygen atoms and therefore an increasing electron charge on the supported Pt nanoparticles. This observation was confirmed with X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and the intensity of the experimental Pt atomic XAFS correlates with the Lewis acidity of the cation introduced. Furthermore, it was found that the CO coverage increases with increasing electron density on the Pt nanoparticles. This increasing electron density was found to result in an increased CO oxidation activity; i.e., the T(50%) for CO oxidation decreases with decreasing alpha. In other words, basic promotors facilitate the chemisorption of CO on the Pt particles. The most promoted CO oxidation catalyst is a Pt/K-Y sample, which has a T(50%) of 390 K and a L:B intensity ratio of 2.7. The obtained results provide guidelines to design improved CO oxidation catalysts.