Oxidation of CO and NO on Composition-Selected Cerium Oxide Cluster Cations

Selective Reduction of NO into N2 Catalyzed by Rh1-Doped Cluster Anions RhCe2O3-5. J Am Chem Soc 2023;145:18658-18667. [PMID: 37572057 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c06565]

Catalytic conversion of toxic nitrogen oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) into nitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) is imperative under the weight of the increasingly stringent emission regulations, while a fundamental understanding of the nature of the active site to selectively drive N2 generation is elusive. Herein, in combination with state-of-the-art mass-spectrometric experiments and quantum-chemical calculations, we demonstrated that the rhodium-cerium oxide clusters RhCe2O3-5- can catalytically drive NO reduction by CO and give rise to N2 and CO2. This finding represents a sharp improvement in cluster science where N2O is commonly produced in the rarely established examples of catalytic NO reduction mediated with gas-phase clusters. We demonstrated the importance of the unique chemical environment in the RhCe2O3- cluster to guide the substantially improved N2 selectivity: a triatomic Lewis "acid-base-acid" Ceδ+-Rhδ--Ceδ+ site is proposed to strongly adsorb two NO molecules as well as the N2O intermediate that is attached on the Rh atom and can facilely dissociate to form N2 assisted by both Ce atoms.

Preparation of Ce x Zr1-x O2 by Different Methods and Its Catalytic Oxidation Activity for Diesel Soot

Novel Ce _x Zr_1-x O₂ (x = 0.67, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0) catalysts were designed and synthesized by solvothermal, calcination, and sol-gel methods and were used to catalyze oxidation of soot from diesel vehicle exhaust. The influence of catalysts synthesized by different methods and Ce/Zr molar ratios on the performance was investigated. These catalysts were characterized by XRD, N₂ adsorption-desorption, FT-IR, TEM, XPS, H₂-temperature programmed reduction (TPR), and O₂-temperature programmed desorption (TPD) techniques. The results indicated that Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ prepared by the calcination method has excellent activity and stability at low temperature. The soot ignition point is 322 °C, and the ratio of soot conversion reaches 90% at 497 °C, which is lower than that from the solvothermal and sol-gel methods. The XRD, Raman, SEM, XPS and H₂-TPR results reveal that the structure and oxygen adsorption properties are crucial to soot oxidation activity, and Zr⁴⁺ is successfully doped into the CeO₂ lattice and forms a homogeneous solid solution. Nanostructured Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ with 110.2 m²/g surface areas is produced. The proportion of chemical oxygen and surface adsorbed oxygen in the catalyst prepared from the calcination method is the highest at 23.18%. The structure may lead to charge imbalance, unsaturated bonds, and oxygen vacancies, thus increasing the adsorption of oxygen on the catalyst surface.

Geometrical Structures of Gas-Phase Cerium Oxide Cluster Cations after Reaction with Nitric Oxide Studied by Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry

Cerium oxide cluster cations were reacted with nitric oxide molecules and then measured by ion mobility mass spectrometry (IMMS). Ce_nO_2n+1N⁺ species appeared as products of the reaction Ce_nO_2n⁺ + NO → Ce_nO_2n+1N⁺, and their collision cross sections (CCSs) with helium were obtained by IMMS. The experimental CCSs of Ce_nO_2n+1N⁺ were 2-6 Ų larger than those of Ce_nO_2n⁺ for n = 4-10. Geometrical structures of Ce₄O₉N⁺ and Ce₅O₁₁N⁺ were assigned by comparing experimental CCSs with theoretically calculated CCSs of candidate structures. The suggested structures showed that the adsorbed NO molecule is oxidized by the Ce_nO_2n⁺ cluster into a nitrite (NO₂^-) or nitrate (NO₃^-). The Ce_nO_2n+1N⁺ species are regarded as intermediates of the NO oxidation reaction Ce_nO_2n⁺ + NO → Ce_nO_2n-1⁺ + NO₂, and therefore, the present results are helpful for understanding redox reactions involving gas-phase Ce_nO_2n⁺ cluster ions.

A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Versatile Reactivity of an Oxocerium(IV) Complex: Concerted Versus Reductive Addition

A combined experimental and theoretical investigation on the cerium(IV) oxo complex [(L_OEt )₂ Ce(=O)(H₂ O)]⋅MeC(O)NH₂ (1; L_OEt ^- =[Co(η⁵ -C₅ H₅ ){P(O)(OEt)₂ }₃ ]^- ) demonstrates that the intermediate spin-state nature of the ground state of the cerium complex is responsible for the versatility of its reactivity towards small molecules such as CO, CO₂ , SO₂ , and NO. CASSCF calculations together with magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate that the ground state of the cerium complex is of multiconfigurational character and comprised of 74 % of Ce^IV and 26 % of Ce^III . The latter is found to be responsible for its reductive addition behavior towards CO, SO₂ , and NO. This is the first report to date on the influence of the multiconfigurational ground state on the reactivity of a metal-oxo complex.

Reaction mechanism between small-sized Ce clusters and water molecules II: an ab initio investigation on Cen (n = 1-3) + mH2O (m = 2-6)

Possible reactions between the products of the three independent reactions involving a small Ce cluster and a single water molecule, Cen + H2O (n = 1-3), and an additional H2O molecule are systematically investigated. The ground-state isomers of the final products and the reaction pathways involving multiple water molecules are predicted. We find that under either ambient or UV-irradiation conditions, all the reactions can entail low energy barriers. In addition, the final products of the reaction between Cen and more than two H2O molecules are also predicted through an extensive structural search. The calculated reaction energies suggest that although small-sized Ce clusters can react with more than two water molecules, the reactions with one or two water molecules are dominant. The electronic structures of all the ground-state isomers and the corresponding oxidation states of Ce atoms in these isomers are computed and determined via the natural bond orbital (NBO) method. The results indicate that a single Ce atom and a Ce2 cluster can react with a maximum of four and six water molecules, respectively, while a Ce3 cluster can react with more than six water molecules. This comprehensive study offers an improved understanding of the mechanism underlying the reactions between a single Ce atom or a small Ce cluster and two or more H2O molecules. Knowledge obtained from this study can be helpful for the development of high-performance Ce-doped or Ce-based catalysts.

Reaction mechanism between small-sized Ce clusters and water molecules: an ab initio investigation on Cen + H2O

Reactions of small-sized cerium clusters Cen (n = 1-3) with a single water molecule are systematically investigated theoretically. The ground state structures of the Cen/H2O complex and the reaction pathways between Cen + H2O are predicted. Our results show the size-dependent reactivity of small-sized Ce clusters. The calculated reaction energies and reaction barriers indicate that the reactivity between Cen and water becomes higher with increasing cluster size. The predicted reaction pathways show that the single Ce atom and the Ce2 and Ce3 clusters can all easily react with H2O and dissociate the water molecule. Under UV-irradiation, the reaction of a Ce atom with a single H2O molecule may even release an H2 molecule. The reaction of either Ce2 or Ce3 with a single H2O molecule can fully dissociate the H2O into H and O atoms while it is bonded with the Ce cluster. The electronic configuration and oxidation states of the Ce atoms in the products and the higher occupied molecular orbitals are analyzed by using the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis method, from which the high reactivity between the reaction products of Cen + H2O and an additional H2O molecule is predicted. Our results offer deeper molecular insights into the chemical reactivity of Ce, which could be helpful for developing more efficient Ce-doped or Ce-based catalysts.

Photodissociation of Cerium Oxide Nanocluster Cations

Cerium oxide cluster cations, CexOy(+), are produced via laser vaporization in a pulsed nozzle source and detected with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The mass spectrum displays a strongly preferred oxide stoichiometry for each cluster with a specific number of metal atoms x, with x ≤ y. Specifically, the most prominent clusters correspond to the formula CeO(CeO2)n(+). The cluster cations are mass selected and photodissociated with a Nd:YAG laser at either 532 or 355 nm. The prominent clusters dissociate to produce smaller species also having a similar CeO(CeO2)n(+) formula, always with apparent leaving groups of (CeO2). The production of CeO(CeO2)n(+) from the dissociation of many cluster sizes establishes the relative stability of these clusters. Furthermore, the consistent loss of neutral CeO2 shows that the smallest neutral clusters adopt the same oxidation state (IV) as the most common form of bulk cerium oxide. Clusters with higher oxygen content than the CeO(CeO2)n(+) masses are present with much lower abundance. These species dissociate by the loss of O2, leaving surviving clusters with the CeO(CeO2)n(+) formula. Density functional theory calculations on these clusters suggest structures composed of stable CeO(CeO2)n(+) cores with excess oxygen bound to the surface as a superoxide unit (O2(-)).