Coverage and Substrate Effects on the Structural Change of FeOx Nanostructures Supported on Pt

Nanoscale Chemical Probing of Metal-Supported Ultrathin Ferrous Oxide via Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Metal-supported ultrathin ferrous oxide (FeO) has attracted immense interest in academia and industry due to its widespread applications in heterogeneous catalysis. However, chemical insight into the local structural characteristics of FeO, despite its critical importance in elucidating structure-property relationships, remains elusive. In this work, we report the nanoscale chemical probing of gold (Au)-supported ultrathin FeO via ultrahigh-vacuum tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (UHV-TERS) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). For comparative analysis, single-crystal Au(111) and Au(100) substrates are used to tune the interfacial properties of FeO. Although STM images show distinctly different moiré superstructures on FeO nanoislands on Au(111) and Au(100), TERS demonstrates the same chemical nature of FeO by comparable vibrational features. In addition, combined TERS and STM measurements identify a unique wrinkled FeO structure on Au(100), which is correlated to the reassembly of the intrinsic Au(100) surface reconstruction due to FeO deposition. Beyond revealing the morphologies of ultrathin FeO on Au substrates, our study provides a thorough understanding of the local interfacial properties and interactions of FeO on Au, which could shed light on the rational design of metal-supported FeO catalysts. Furthermore, this work demonstrates the promising utility of combined TERS and STM in chemically probing the structural properties of metal-supported ultrathin oxides on the nanoscale.

Confinement chemistry of FeOx centers for activating molecular oxygen under ambient conditions

Activating molecular oxygen under mild conditions is highly important for developing advanced green technologies and for understanding the origin and running of life as well, which still remains a challenge. In this work, we report on the confinement chemistry for activating molecular oxygen over oxides under mild conditions by presenting the synthesis and characterization of FeO_x species confined to the pores of support CeO₂ nanospheres. Active catalytic materials are obtained by a controllable three-step method via the formation of porous CeO₂ nanospheres that have an average diameter of 120 nm and exhibit a large surface area of 168 m² g^-1 and a pore size of 18.7 nm, confining FeO_x in intimate contact with ultra-small Pt particles in pores. The optimized PtO_y-FeO_x/CeO₂-H catalyst showed an excellent performance in the preferential oxidation of CO reactions, as featured by 100% CO conversion at room temperature with almost no attenuation in a prolonged operation, which could not be accessible without pore-confined FeO_x centers. Mechanical studies prove that the reaction progresses via abnormal non-competitive adsorption associated with synergistic roles from uniform loading, stabilization of divalent Fe species, surface oxygen activation on CeO₂ supports, and the reduced H₂ spillover effect on Pt⁰, making the CO species adsorbed on Pt^δ+ easier to be desorbed. The methodology demonstrated here may inspire one to explore more advanced catalysts with high activity at room temperature essential for a wide range of applications.