Enhanced Au/TiO2 Catalysts for More Efficient O2 Activation

Adjusts Atomic Interface to Enable Catalytic Activity 34 Times Greater Than Traditional Catalysts

This enhancement of the Au/TiO2 catalyst results from manipulating its interfacial atomic structures for optimal oxygen activation. Analysts project the global market for catalysts to reach $48 billion in 2027 . The field of heterogeneous catalysis does not well understand how the atomic structures at metal-oxide interfaces correspond to their catalytic activity. Additionally, creating particular atomic structures at those interfaces only rather than on the whole oxide remains a challenge, making it difficult to identify how to improve catalytic activity.

Researchers at the University of Florida have successfully manipulated atomic structures at the Au/TiO2 interface to alter the interfacial electron distribution and promote the catalyst’s activity. The results provide strategies to engineer metal-oxide interfaces that optimize catalysis.

Application

Construction of catalysts with enhanced metal-oxide interfaces that boost catalytic activity in a wide range of applications such as oxygen activation

Advantages

• Forms a defect-free interfacial structure, generating a 34-times more reactive catalyst
• Improves Au/TiO2 catalyst, driving oxygen activation for eliminating harmful chemicals NO and CO
• Enhances catalytic efficiency, saving production costs in various industrial processes

Technology

This process produces metal/TiO2 catalysts that have defect-free interfaces. Deposition-precipitation (DP) reduces chloroauric acid trihydrate on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles. The Au (or Ag or Cu) atoms diffuse into the surface to eliminate oxygen vacancies on TiO2, mediating the transfer of electrons from the Ti atoms to the perimeter O2 molecules and greatly improving the overall activity of the final catalyst.