The effect of Ni on the structure and catalytic behavior of model Pd/Ce0.67Zr0.33O2 three-way catalyst before and after aging

Ce0.67Zr0.33O2 (CZ) doped by nickel oxide with different content and the corresponding Pd-only three-way catalysts before and after aging has been prepared and characterized. The investigations show that CZ doped with nickel oxide obviously results in more active fresh catalysts with enhanced textural properties, but suffers from a net loss of activity after aging. The introduction of Ni promotes the reducibility of samples, causing the enhancement of oxygen storage capacity (OSC) of fresh samples. CZNi(3%) exhibits better textural and structural properties because of the formation of more homogeneous Ce–Zr–Ni–O ternary solid solution, which promotes the interaction between Ce–Zr and Ni. However, the thermal aging leads to a loss of surface area and a significant decrease of the reducibility and OSC, except for CZNi(3%). Only Pd/CZNi(3%) represents better catalytic activity after aging. It reveals that the catalytic behavior of these bimetallic systems is strongly affected by the nature of support.