Manipulating Copper Dispersion on Ceria for Enhanced Catalysis: A Nanocrystal-Based Atom-Trapping Strategy

Due to tunable redox properties and cost-effectiveness, copper-ceria (Cu-CeO₂ ) materials have been investigated for a wide scope of catalytic reactions. However, accurately identifying and rationally tuning the local structures in Cu-CeO₂ have remained challenging, especially for nanomaterials with inherent structural complexities involving surfaces, interfaces, and defects. Here, a nanocrystal-based atom-trapping strategy to access atomically precise Cu-CeO₂ nanostructures for enhanced catalysis is reported. Driven by the interfacial interactions between the presynthesized Cu and CeO₂ nanocrystals, Cu atoms migrate and redisperse onto the CeO₂ surface via a solid-solid route. This interfacial restructuring behavior facilitates tuning of the copper dispersion and the associated creation of surface oxygen defects on CeO₂ , which gives rise to enhanced activities and stabilities catalyzing water-gas shift reaction. Combining soft and solid-state chemistry of colloidal nanocrystals provide a well-defined platform to understand, elucidate, and harness metal-support interactions. The dynamic behavior of the supported metal species can be further exploited to realize exquisite control and rational design of multicomponent nanocatalysts.