Effect of Dopants on the Adsorption of Carbon Dioxide on Ceria Surfaces

High-surface-area nanosized CeO2 and M-doped CeO2 (M=Cu, La, Zr, and Mg) prepared by a surfactant-templated method were tested for CO2 adsorption. Cu, La, and Zr are doped into the lattice of CeO2, whereas Mg is dispersed on the CeO2 surface. The doping of Cu and La into CeO2 leads to an increase of the CO2 adsorption capacity, whereas the doping of Zr has little or no effect. The addition of Mg causes a decrease of the CO2 adsorption capacity at a low Mg content and a gradual increase at a higher content. The CO2 adsorption capacity follows the sequence Cu-CeO2 >La-CeO2 >Zr-CeO2 ≈CeO2 >Mg-CeO2 at low dopant contents, in line with the relative amount of defect sites in the samples. It is the defect sites on the surface, not in the bulk of CeO2, modified by the dopants that play the vital role in CO2 chemisorption. The role of surface oxygen vacancies is further supported by an in situ IR spectroscopic study of the surface chemistry during CO2 adsorption on the doped CeO2.