Lowering the Cu-O bond energy in CuO nanocatalysts enhances the efficiency of NH 3 oxidation

Journal article

Tuning the electronic properties of nanocatalysts via doping with monodispersed hetero-metal atoms is an effective method used to enhance catalytic properties. Doping CuO nanoparticles with monodispersed Co atoms using different reductants affords catalysts (CoBCu/Al2O3 and CoHCu/Al2O3) with strikingly different electronic structures. Compared to CoHCu/Al2O3, the CuO nanoparticles in CoBCu/Al2O3 have longer and weaker Cu-O bonds, with a lower 1s → 4pz antibonding transition and higher 4p → 1s bonding transition (as demonstrated from HERFD-XANES and valence-to-core X-ray emission spectroscopy). The weaker Cu-O bonds in CoBCu/Al2O3 lead to superior redox activity of the CuO nanoparticles, evidenced from operando XAFS and in-situ near ambient pressure-near edge X-ray absorption fine structures studies. Such superior redox properties of CuO in CoBCu/Al2O3 result in a much reduced activation energy of CoBCu/Al2O3 compared to CoHCu/Al2O3 (40.0 vs. 63.5 kJ/mol), thus leading to an enhancement in catalytic performance in the selective catalytic oxidation of NH3 to N2.

Authors: Chen, L; Guan, X; Yao, Z; Hayama, S; Spronsen, MAV

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Journal: Nature Communications
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• Article number: 9412
• Publication date: 2025-10-24
• Acceptance date: 2025-09-12
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-64415-w
• EISSN: 2041-1723
• ISSN: 2041-1723
• Language: English