Influence of Oxygen Vacancy-Induced Coordination Change on Pd/CeO2 for NO Reduction

The byproduct formation in environmental catalysis is strongly influenced by the chemical state and coordination of catalysts. Herein, two Pd/CeO2 catalysts (PdCe-350 and PdCe-800) with varying oxygen vacancies (Ov) and coordination numbers (CN) of Pd were prepared to investigate the mechanism of N2O and NH3 formation during NO reduction by CO. PdCe-350 exhibits a higher density of Ov and Pd sites with higher CN, leading to an enhanced metal-support interaction by electron transformation from the support to Pd. Consequently, PdCe-350 displayed increased levels of byproduct formation. In situ spectroscopies under dry and wet conditions revealed that at low temperatures, the N2O formation strongly correlated with the Ov density through the decomposition of chelating nitro species on PdCe-350. Conversely, at high temperatures, it was linked to the reactivity of Pd species, primarily facilitated by monodentate nitrates on PdCe-800. In terms of NH3 formation, its occurrence was closely associated with the activation of H2O and C3H6, since a water-gas shift or hydrocarbon reforming could provide hydrogen. Both bridging and monodentate nitrates showed activity in NH3 formation, while hyponitrites were identified as key intermediates for both catalysts. The insights provide a fundamental understanding of the intricate relationship among the local coordination of Pd, surface Ov, and byproduct distribution.

Boosting CO2 Electroreduction to C2H4 via Unconventional Hybridization: High-Order Ce4+ 4f and O 2p Interaction in Ce-Cu2O for Stabilizing Cu. ACS NANO 2023. [PMID: 37410800 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c03952]

Efficient conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into value-added materials and feedstocks, powered by renewable electricity, presents a promising strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and close the anthropogenic carbon loop. Recently, there has been intense interest in Cu₂O-based catalysts for the CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR), owing to their capabilities in enhancing C-C coupling. However, the electrochemical instability of Cu⁺ in Cu₂O leads to its inevitable reduction to Cu⁰, resulting in poor selectivity for C₂₊ products. Herein, we propose an unconventional and feasible strategy for stabilizing Cu⁺ through the construction of a Ce⁴⁺ 4f-O 2p-Cu⁺ 3d network structure in Ce-Cu₂O. Experimental results and theoretical calculations confirm that the unconventional orbital hybridization near E_f based on the high-order Ce⁴⁺ 4f and 2p can more effectively inhibit the leaching of lattice oxygen, thereby stabilizing Cu⁺ in Ce-Cu₂O, compared with traditional d-p hybridization. Compared to pure Cu₂O, the Ce-Cu₂O catalyst increased the ratio of C₂H₄/CO by 1.69-fold during the CO₂RR at -1.3 V. Furthermore, in situ and ex situ spectroscopic techniques were utilized to track the oxidation valency of copper under CO₂RR conditions with time resolution, identifying the well-maintained Cu⁺ species in the Ce-Cu₂O catalyst. This work not only presents an avenue to CO₂RR catalyst design involving the high-order 4f and 2p orbital hybridization but also provides deep insights into the metal-oxidation-state-dependent selectivity of catalysts.

Realization of Electron Antidoping by Modulating the Breathing Distortion in BaBiO3

The recent proposal of antidoping scheme breaks new ground in conceiving conversely functional materials and devices; yet, the few available examples belong to the correlated electron systems. Here, we demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally that the main group oxide BaBiO₃ is a model system for antidoping using oxygen vacancies. The first-principles calculations show that the band gap systematically increases due to the strongly enhanced Bi-O breathing distortions away from the vacancies and the annihilation of Bi 6s/O 2p hybridized conduction bands near the vacancies. Our further spectroscopic experiments confirm that the band gap increases systematically with electron doping, with a maximal gap enhancement of ∼75% when the film's stoichiometry is reduced to BaBiO_2.75. These results unambiguously demonstrate the remarkable antidoping effect in a material without strong electron correlations and underscores the importance of bond disproportionation in realizing such an effect.

Switching-on superparamagnetism in diluted magnetic Fe(iii) doped CdSe quantum dots

Chemically prepared, 0.5% Fe(iii)-doped CdSe QDs exhibit superparamagnetism with weak ferromagnetic exchange interaction.

Insights into the CO2 deoxygenation to CO over oxygen vacancies of CeO2

The reversibly regenerated oxygen vacancies of CeO₂ can catalyze CO₂ deoxygenation and the reaction is initially surface reaction limited.

Investigation on cation distribution and luminescence in spinel phase γ-Ga3−δO4 : Sm nanostructures using X-ray absorption spectroscopy

In this study, spectroscopic investigations are employed to quantify the Ga distribution over the tetrahedral/octahedral sites and to assimilate the luminescence properties in the barely reported γ-Ga_2.67O₄ : Sm nanoparticles.

Enhanced room-temperature ferromagnetism on (In0.98−xCoxSn0.02)2O3 films: magnetic mechanism, optical and transport properties

The paper provides new insight for understanding the mechanism of the magnetic interactions in Co/Sn codoped In₂O₃ films.

Fe-doped CeO2 nanorods for enhanced peroxidase-like activity and their application towards glucose detection

Surface defects of Fe-doped CeO₂ nanorods were found to be active sites for increasing peroxidase mimetic activity.

Synthesis, phase composition, Mössbauer and magnetic characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles

Synthesis methods clearly show the effect of argon and vacuum environments on the structure–property relationship of iron oxide nanoparticles. A clear contradiction is observed from the results of static and dynamic magnetization for both samples.

Bifunctional Ce(1-x)Eu(x)O2 (0 ≤x≤ 0.3) nanoparticles for photoluminescence and photocatalyst applications: an X-ray absorption spectroscopy study

Ce1-xEuxO2 (0 ≤x≤ 0.3) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by the chemical precipitation method. The microstructures and morphology were characterized by synchrotron X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra at the Eu M5,4-edge and atomic-multiplet calculations revealed that Eu(3+) was predominantly present in the CeO2 lattice and Eu(2+) was negligibly present within the entire doping range. The detailed analysis of the Ce M5,4-edge and the O K-edge has shown strong dependence of the Ce(3+)/Ce(4+) ratio and oxygen vacancy with Eu content. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra at the Ce K-edge, along with theoretical fitting, have shown systematic variation in the coordination number, bond length and Debye-Waller factor with Eu doping. A blue shift in the absorption edge was observed which implies a net increase in the charge transfer gap between the O 2p and Ce 4f bands due to the increased number of Ce(3+) ions in the Eu doped samples. The excitation and emission spectra of pure CeO2 NPs did not show any photoluminescence (PL) characteristic; however, Ce1-xEuxO2 (x = 0.1-0.3) NPs showed significant improvements in the 4f-4f, (5)D0-(7)F2 and (5)D0-(7)F1 transitions induced luminescence properties. Eu doping has two major effects on the electronic structure and optical properties of CeO2 NPs: the first, at an Eu content of 10 mol%, is the formation of Ce(4+)-O-Eu(3+) networks, i.e., Eu(3+) ions substitute the Ce(4+) ions and introduce oxygen vacancies and Ce(3+) ions in the host lattice, which favors the (5)D0-(7)F2 induced PL properties. The other, at an Eu doping over 10 mol%, is the formation of both Ce(4+)-O-Eu(3+) and Ce(3+)-O-Eu(3+), i.e., Eu(3+) ions not only take substitutional sites of Ce(4+) ions but also replace a fraction of Ce(3+) ions in the CeO2 lattice which favors (5)D0-(7)F1 induced PL properties. As an application of CeO2 NPs towards the degradation of water pollutants, we demonstrated that the Ce1-xEuxO2 (0 ≤x≤ 0.3) NPs can serve as effective photocatalyst materials towards the degradation of the methyl-orange aqueous pollutant dye under UV light irradiation.

Simulations of ceria nanoparticles

Atomistic computer simulations, using classical potential models, have been used to model ceria nanoparticles (NPs) with diameters of approximately 1 and 2 nm. Lattice expansion is observed in the stoichiometric 1 nm NP, consistent with experiment, indicating that reduction is not the primary driver for such expansion. Furthermore, on reduction, the 1 nm NP is found to distort significantly, offering a possible explanation for its reduced oxygen storage capacity compared to the 2 nm NP. Point defect calculations on the 2 nm NP indicate that while doping with La is energetically favourable, Fe incorporation is not.

Magnetism mediated by a majority of [Fe³⁺ + VO²⁻] complexes in Fe-doped CeO₂ nanoparticles

We examine the role of Fe(3+) and vacancies (V(O)) on the magnetism of Fe-doped CeO2 nanoparticles. Magnetic nanoparticles of Ce(100-x)Fe(x)O2 (x  =  0, 0.26, 1.82, 2.64, 5.26, 6.91, and 7.22) were prepared by a co-precipitation method, and their structural, compositional and magnetic properties were investigated. The CeO2 nanoparticles had a mixed valance of Ce(4+) and Ce(3+) ions, and doping introduced Fe(3+) ions. The decrease in Ce(3+) and increase in Fe(3+) concentrations indicated the presence of more [Fe(3+) + V(O)(2-)] complexes with Fe loading in the particles. Charge neutralization, Fe(3+) + V(O)(2-) + 2Ce(4+) ↔ 2Ce(3+) + Fe(3+), identified the impact of V(O) on the magnetism, where our results suggest that the Fe-doped CeO2 nanoparticle magnetism is mediated by a majority of [Fe(3+) + V(O)(2-)]-Ce(3+) -[Fe(3+) + V(O)(2-)] complexes.

Enhancing the dual magnetic and optical properties of co-doped cerium oxide nanostructures

Iron and europium co-doped cerium oxide nanoparticles exhibits interesting optical and magnetic properties.

Understanding and tuning electronic structure in modified ceria nanocrystals by defect engineering

This study investigates the effect of Fe(3+) on the electronic structure of nanocrystalline ceria. Systematic synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy coupled with scanning transmission electron microscopy/electron energy loss spectroscopy was utilized. The oxygen vacancies can be engineered and their number varied with the degree of iron doping. Comparing the local electronic structure around Ce sites with that around Fe sites reveals two stages of defect engineering. The concentration of Ce(3+) and the distribution of defects differ between lower and higher degrees of doping. Charge is transferred between Ce and Fe when the doping level is less than 5%, but this effect is not significant at a doping level of over 5%. This transfer of charge is verified by energy loss spectroscopy. These Fe-modified ceria nanoparticles exhibit core-shell-like structures at low doping levels and this finding is consistent with the results of scanning transmission electron microscopy/electron energy loss spectroscopy. More Fe is distributed at the surface for doping levels less than 5%, whereas the homogeneity of Fe in the system increases for doping levels higher than 5%. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy reveals that Ce, rather than Fe, is responsible for the ferromagnetism. Interestingly, Ce(3+) is not essential for producing the ferromagnetism. The oxygen vacancies and the defect structure are suggested to be the main causes of the ferromagnetism. The charge transfer and defect structure Fe(3+)-Vo-Ce(3+) and Fe(3+)-Vo-Fe(3+) are critical for the magnetism, and the change in saturated magnetization can be understood as being caused by the competition between interactions that originate from magnetic polarons and from paired ions.

Electronic structure study of Ce1−xAxO2 (A = Zr & Hf) nanoparticles: NEXAFS and EXAFS investigations

4f-occupation, Ce⁺³/Ce⁺⁴ ratio and grain-size effects in Zr- and Hf-substituted CeO₂ nanoparticles are investigated by NEAXFS and EXAFS.