Reducible oxides have been shown to greatly improve the activity of water gas shift (WGS) catalysts. The precise mechanism for this effect is a matter of intense debate, but the dissociation of water is generally considered to be the key step in the reaction. We present here a study of the water activation on oxygen vacancies at the support as part of the mechanism of the WGS reaction on Pt supported on pure and gallium-doped ceria. Doping the ceria with gallium allows tuning the vacancies in the support while maintaining constant the metal dispersion. An inverse relationship was found between the catalytic activity to WGS and the amount of oxygen vacancies. In situ time-resolved X-ray diffraction, mass spectrometry, and diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy (DRIFT) showed that the oxygen vacancy filling by water is always fast in either Pt/CeO2 or Pt/CeGa. DFT calculation provides molecular insights to understand the pathway of water reaction with vacancies at the metal–oxide interface sites. Our results suggest that the activation of the water molecule in the WGS mechanism is not the rate-limiting step in these systems. Concentration-modulation spectroscopy in DRIFT mode under WGS reaction conditions allows the selective detection of key reaction intermediates, a monodentate formate (HCOO) and carboxylate (CO2 δ−) species, which suggests the prevalence of a carboxyl (HOCO) mechanism activated at the oxide–metal interface of the catalyst.

Supported catalytically active liquid metal solutions (SCALMS) represent a class of catalytic materials that have only recently been developed, but have already proven to be highly active, e.g., for dehydrogenation reactions. Previous studies attributed the catalytic activity to isolated noble metal atoms at the surface of a liquid and inert Ga matrix. In this study, we apply diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) with CO as a probe molecule to Ga/Al2O3, Pt/Al2O3, and Ga37Pt/Al2O3 catalysts, to investigate in detail the nature of the active Pt species. Comparison of CO adsorption on Pt/Al2O3 and Ga37Pt/Al2O3 shows that isolated Pt atoms are, indeed, present at the surface of the liquid SCALMS. Combining DRIFTS with online gas chromatography (GC), we investigated the Ga/Al2O3, Pt/Al2O3, and Ga37Pt/Al2O3 systems under operando conditions during propane dehydrogenation in CO/propane and in Ar/propane. We find that the Pt/Al2O3 sample is rapidly poisoned by CO adsorption and coke, whereas propane dehydrogenation over Ga37Pt/Al2O3 SCALMS leads to higher conversion with no indication of poisoning effects. We show under operando conditions that isolated Pt atoms are present at the surface of SCALMS during the dehydrogenation reaction. IR spectra and density-functional theory (DFT) suggest that both the Ga matrix and the presence of coadsorbates alter the electronic properties of the surface Pt species.

The doping of CeO 2 with different types of cations has been recognized as a significant factor in controlling the oxygen vacancies and improving the oxygen mobility. Thus, the catalytic properties of these materials might be determined by modifying the redox properties of ceria. A combined experimental and theoretical study of the redox properties of gallium-doped cerium dioxide is presented. Infrared spectroscopy and timeresolved X-ray diffraction were used for temperature programmed reduction (H 2 ) and oxidation (with O 2 and H 2 O) studies. Additionally, X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy shows that only Ce 4+ is reduced to Ce 3+ in the ceria−gallia mixed oxides when annealed up to 623 K. The oxygen storage capacity (OSC) measurements show a pronounced enhancement on the reduction of ceria by gallium doping. Theoretical calculations by density functional theory (DFT) confirm the higher reducibility of gallium-doped ceria oxides and give a molecular description of the stabilization of the doped material. On the basis of infrared spectroscopic measurements, a novel mechanism is proposed for the surface reduction of Ce 4+ to Ce 3+ where Ga−H species are suggested to be directly involved in the process. In addition, the reoxidation by H 2 O was precluded in the galliumdoped ceria oxide.

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A four-step reaction mechanism is proposed for the H 2 dissociation over pure ceria and galliumpromoted mixed oxide materials, in a combined experimental and computational investigation. Two samples of cerium-gallium mixed oxides with Ce/Ga atomic ratios equal to 90/10 and 80/20 were studied by time-resolved diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy under H 2 (D 2) flow at isothermal condition in the range of 523-623 K. X-ray photoelectron spectrometry allowed to conclude that only Ce 4+ is reduced to Ce 3+ (Ga 3+ is not reduced), in agreement with density functional theory (DFT) results. The time evolution profiles of gallium hydride ðGaAHÞ species, hydroxyl groups (OH) and Ce 3+ infrared signals were analyzed and kinetic rate parameters for each step were obtained by mathematical modeling. The values for activation energies were in agreement with those calculated by DFT, for the different elementary pathways. A small activation energy ($4 kcal/mol) was found for H 2 dissociation found on Ga Á Á Á OACe sites assuming that the heterolytic cleavage of the HAH bond is the rate determining step. On pure ceria, the experimental activation energy is $23 kcal/mol, showing that the addition of Ga 3+ cations boosts the splitting of H 2. Interestingly, the reduction step of pure CeO 2 surface domains seems to proceed via a CeH/OH pair intermediate, according to DFT calculations. Moreover, 71 Ga NMR experiments indicate the possible presence of gallia nanodomains. It is proposed that the generation of Ga Á Á Á OACe sites in the perimeter of such surface gallia nanodomains is responsible for the enhanced reactivity of the mixed materials. The key role of this new type of sites to improve the efficiency of relevant catalytic reactions such as selective alkyne hydrogenation and light alkane dehydrogenation is then analyzed. q This contribution is part of the virtual issue ''30 years of the International Conferences on Theoretical Aspects of Catalysis (ICTAC)".

The ethanol steam reforming reaction, together with the adsorption and decomposition of ethanol was studied on CeO 2 and gallium-doped ceria (CeGaO x) by a combined experimental and theoretical approach using infrared spectroscopy (IR), mass spectrometry (MS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. At 100°C, different types of monodentate ethoxy species were identified as standing-up (SU) on Ce 4+ and lying-down (LD) on Ce 4+ and Ga 3+ , with the alkyl chain more perpendicular or parallel to the surface, respectively. It is suggested that the incorporation of Ga into the ceria lattice changes the decomposition pathway of LD species, which converts to acetate instead of ethylene, attributed to the increased lattice oxygen lability in the CeOGa interface upon doping and the propensity to form GaH surface species. Under ethanol steam reforming conditions, Ga doping of ceriabased materials has a drastic effect by improving the H 2 :CO 2 ratio, changing the product distribution and reducing coke formation.

The synthesis, characterization and catalytic properties of gold supported on ceria, gallia and a ceriumgallium mixed oxide were investigated. The nanostructural characterization of the cerium-gallium support (nominal atomic composition Ce80Ga20) showed that gallium(III) cations are homogenously distributed into the ceria matrix by substituting cerium(IV) cations of the fluorite-type structure of ceria. Au was added to the supports by the deposition-precipitation method using urea. High Au dispersions were achieved for all the fresh materials (D [ 60%). The CO oxidation and the water gas shift (WGS) reaction were tested on the whole set of catalysts. All the supported-gold catalysts showed high activity for the CO oxidation reaction. However, those containing gallium in their formulation deactivated due to gold particle sinterization. Au(2%)/CeO 2 was the most active material for the WGS reaction, and the Au(2%)/Ce80Ga20 was as active as a Au(3%)/Ce68Zr32 catalyst for CO oxidation, and even more active than the reference catalyst of the World Gold Council, Au(2%)/TiO 2 .

Hybrid materials consisting of ionic liquid (ILs) films on supported oxides hold a great potential for applications in electronic and energy materials. In this work, we have performed surface science model studies scrutinizing the interaction of ester-functionalized ILs with atomically defined Co O (111) and CoO(100) surfaces. Both supports are prepared under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions in form of thin films on Ir(100) single crystals. Subsequently, thin films of three ILs, 3-butyl-1-methyl imidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl) imide ([BMIM][NTf ]), 3-(4-methoxyl-4-oxobutyl)-1-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl) imide ([MBMIM][NTf ]), and 3-(4-isopropoxy-4-oxobutyl)-1-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl) imide ([IPBMIM][NTf ]), were deposited on these surfaces by physical vapor deposition (PVD). Time-resolved and temperature-programmed infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (TR-IRAS, TP-IRAS) were applied to monitor in situ the adsorption, film growth, and thermally induced desorption. By TP-IRAS, we determined the multilayer desorption temperature of [BMIM][NTf ] (360±5 K), [MBMIM][NTf ] (380 K) and [IPBMIM][NTf ] (380 K). Upon deposition below the multilayer desorption temperature, all three ILs physisorb on both cobalt oxide surfaces. However, strong orientation effects are observed in the first monolayer, where the [NTf ] ion interacts with the surface through the SO groups and the CF groups point towards the vacuum. For the two functionalized ILs, the [MBMIM] and [IPBMIM] interact with the surface Co ions of both surfaces via the CO group of their ester function. A very different behavior is found, if the ILs are deposited above the multilayer desorption temperature (400 K). While for [BMIM][NTf ] and [MBMIM][NTf ] a molecularly adsorbed monolayer film is formed, [IPBMIM][NTf ] undergoes a chemical transformation on the CoO(100) surface. Here, the ester group is cleaved and the cation is chemically linked to the surface by formation of a surface carboxylate. The IL-derived species in the monolayer desorb at temperatures around 500 to 550 K.