Structural characteristics of bimetallic catalysts supported on nano-ceria

Abstract

Cu-Pt bimetal catalysts supported on nanocrystalline CeO2 (nano-ceria) are synthesized via the low-cost sol-gel approach followed by impregnation processing. The average particle size of the catalytic composites is 63nm. Ceria nanopowders sequentially impregnated in copper solution and then in Pt solution transformed into Pt-skin-structured Cu-Pt/ceria nanocomposite, based on the surface elemental and bulk compositional analyses. The ceria supporter has a fluorite structure, but the structure of Cu and Pt catalytic contents, not detected by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy due to the low loading level, is yet conclusive. The bimetallic catalytic nanocomposites may potentially serve as sulfur-tolerant anode in solid oxide fuel cells. Copyright 2011 J. F. Bozeman and H. Huang.