Influence of reduction energy match among CuO species in CuO-CeO2 catalysts on the catalytic performance for CO preferential oxidation in excess hydrogen

In the present study, we have investigated the reducibility of CuO species on CuO-CeO2 catalysts and the influence of CuO species on the catalytic performance for CO preferential oxidation (CO PROX) in excess hydrogen. It is revealed that the smaller the difference of reduction temperature (denoted as T) for two adjacent CuO species is, the higher the catalytic activity of CuO-CeO2 for the PROX in excess hydrogen may be obtained. It means that if the reduction energy of Cu0-Cu2+ pairs matched better, the reduction-oxidation recycle of Cu0-Cu2+ pairs would go on more easily, then the transferring energy of Cu0-Cu2+ pairs would be lesser. Therefore, the CuO-CeO2 catalysts will be largely improved in their catalytic performance if the different CuO species on the catalysts have matched the reduction energy, which would allows them to cooperate effectively.