Enhanced CO oxidation on CeO₂/Co₃O₄ nanojunctions derived from annealing of metal organic frameworks

The interface of nanojunctions plays an important role in the performance of heterogeneous catalysts. However, it is highly challenging to construct nanojunctions which are usually prepared by complex multistep processes. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), with designable metal centers and tunable organic ligands, are promising precursors for the one-step synthesis of nanojunctions. Herein, we prepared porous CeO₂/Co₃O₄ nanojunctions by direct annealing of MOFs in air. These unique nanojunctions exhibit remarkable catalytic activity for CO oxidation, which can achieve complete oxidization of CO to CO₂ at 110 °C. In contrast, the temperature required for 100% CO oxidation is 190 °C for pure Co₃O₄. Moreover, the nanojunctions can maintain complete CO conversion after 16 h at 110 °C. Density functional theory calculations revealed that the enhancement in the catalytic activity of CeO₂/Co₃O₄ nanojunctions can be attributed to the charge transfer through the interfaces of the nanojunctions.