A Cu(111) surface displays a low activity for the oxidation of carbon monoxide (2CO + O(2) → 2CO(2)). Depending on the temperature, background pressure of O(2), and the exposure time, one can get chemisorbed O on Cu(111) or a layer of Cu(2)O that may be deficient in oxygen. The addition of ceria nanoparticles (NPs) to Cu(111) substantially enhances interactions with the O(2) molecule and facilitates the oxidation of the copper substrate. In images of scanning tunneling microscopy, ceria NPs exhibit two overlapping honeycomb-type moiré structures, with the larger ones (H(1)) having a periodicity of 4.2 nm and the smaller ones (H(2)) having a periodicity of 1.20 nm. After annealing CeO(2)/Cu(111) in O(2) at elevated temperatures (600-700 K), a new phase of a Cu(2)O(1+x) surface oxide appears and propagates from the ceria NPs. The ceria is not only active for O(2) dissociation, but provides a much faster channel for oxidation than the step edges of Cu(111). Exposure to CO at 550-750 K led to a partial reduction of the ceria NPs and the removal of the copper oxide layer. The CeO(x)/Cu(111) systems have activities for the 2CO + O(2) → 2CO(2) reaction that are comparable or larger than those reported for surfaces of expensive noble metals such as Rh(111), Pd(110), and Pt(100). Density-functional calculations show that the supported ceria NPs are able to catalyze the oxidation of CO due to their special electronic and chemical properties. The configuration of the inverse oxide/metal catalyst opens new interesting routes for applications in catalysis.

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The gasochromic mechanism in amorphous tungsten oxide films has been investigated using Raman scattering measurements. The Raman spectra of as-deposited films show two strong peaks at 770 and 950 cm−1 due to vibrations of the O–W6+–O and W6+=O bonds, respectively. When the Pd/a-WO3 films are gasochromically colored by exposure to diluted hydrogen gas, extra Raman peaks due to O–W5+–O and W5+=O bonds appear at 330 and 450 cm−1, respectively. The Raman spectra of a-WO3 films bleached with isotopic heavy oxygen (18O) show that the gasochromic coloration in a-WO3 films is directly related to the double injection of hydrogen ions and electrons.

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The density functional theory (DFT)+U method has been widely employed in theoretical studies on various ceria systems to correct the delocalization bias in local and semi-local DFT functionals with moderate computational cost. We present a systematic and quantitative study, aiming to gain better understanding of the dependence of Hubbard U on the local atomic arrangement. To rationalize the Hubbard U of Ce 4f, we employed the first principles linear response method to compute Hubbard U for Ce in ceria clusters, bulks, and surfaces. We found that the Hubbard U varies in a wide range from 4.3 eV to 6.7 eV, and exhibits a strong correlation with the Ce coordination number and Ce-O bond lengths, rather than the Ce 4f valence state. The variation of the Hubbard U can be explained by the changes in the strength of local screening due to O → Ce intersite transitions.