Electronic interactions between metal nanoparticles and oxide supports control the functionality of nanomaterials, for example, the stability, the activity and the selectivity of catalysts. Such interactions involve electron transfer across the metal/support interface. In this work we quantify this charge transfer on a well-defined platinum/ceria catalyst at particle sizes relevant for heterogeneous catalysis. Combining synchrotron-radiation photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning tunnelling microscopy and density functional calculations we show that the charge transfer per Pt atom is largest for Pt particles of around 50 atoms. Here, approximately one electron is transferred per ten Pt atoms from the nanoparticle to the support. For larger particles, the charge transfer reaches its intrinsic limit set by the support. For smaller particles, charge transfer is partially suppressed by nucleation at defects. These mechanistic and quantitative insights into charge transfer will help to make better use of particle size effects and electronic metal-support interactions in metal/oxide nanomaterials.

Single-atom catalysts maximize the utilization of supported precious metals by exposing every single metal atom to reactants. To avoid sintering and deactivation at realistic reaction conditions, single metal atoms are stabilized by specific adsorption sites on catalyst substrates. Here we show by combining photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning tunnelling microscopy and density functional theory calculations that Pt single atoms on ceria are stabilized by the most ubiquitous defects on solid surfaces—monoatomic step edges. Pt segregation at steps leads to stable dispersions of single Pt2+ ions in planar PtO4 moieties incorporating excess O atoms and contributing to oxygen storage capacity of ceria. We experimentally control the step density on our samples, to maximize the coverage of monodispersed Pt2+ and demonstrate that step engineering and step decoration represent effective strategies for understanding and design of new single-atom catalysts.

Changes of stoichiometry in reducible oxides are inevitably accompanied by changes of the oxide structure. We study the relationship between the stoichiometry and the structure in thin epitaxial films of reduced ceria, CeO x , 1.5 ≤ x ≤ 2, prepared via an interface reaction between a thin ceria film on Cu(111) and a Ce metal deposit. We show that the transition between the limiting stoichiometries CeO 2 and Ce 2 O 3 is realized by equilibration of mobile oxygen vacancies near the surface of the film, while the fluorite lattice of cerium atoms remains unchanged during the process. We identify two surface reconstructions representing distinct oxygen vacancy ordering during the transition, a (√7 × √7)R19.1°reconstruction representing a bulk termination of the ι-Ce 7 O 12 and a (3 × 3) reconstruction representing a bulk termination of CeO 1.67 . Due to the special property to yield ordered phases of reduced ceria the interface reaction between Ce and thin film ceria represents a unique tool for oxygen vacancy engineering. The perspective applications include advanced model catalyst studies with both the concentration and the coordination of oxygen vacancies precisely under control. ■ INTRODUCTIONReducible oxides play an important role in heterogeneous catalysis. 1−7 Due to their ability to store or release oxygen, reducible oxides usually act as an oxygen supply or a reducing agent during catalytic reactions. 8,9 Reactions over reducible oxides are typically accompanied by changes in the oxide stoichiometry that are often realized on complex phase diagrams 10−17 and may influence the catalytic activity through changes in local coordination, surface termination, and longrange ordering in the oxide. 18−21 Model studies isolating the changes of the oxide stoichiometry are of the utmost importance for understanding the role of stoichiometry in the reaction mechanisms over reducible oxides and for improving and developing new catalysts.The reactivity of cerium oxide-based catalysts is greatly influenced by the presence of oxygen vacancies in ceria. 22,23 The ability to adjust the concentration and the distribution of oxygen vacancies allows for the control over the reactivity and the selectivity of ceria-based catalysts. 24,25 For this reason, having experimental access to ordered phases of cerium oxide with different concentration and coordination of oxygen vacancies greatly enhances the possibilities of model catalytic studies. Several phases of ordered reduced ceria have been prepared in the past in the form of powder or single-crystal samples, 26−28 but only recently ordered reduced phases of ceria have been realized in the form of thin films on single crystalline supports. The thin film of the ι-Ce 7 O 12 phase on hexPr 2 O 3 (0001)/Si(111) substrate was obtained by Wilkens et al. via heating of the CeO 2 layer in vacuum. 29 A thin film of the c-Ce 2 O 3 phase on Cu(111) was obtained by our group via an alternative method of reducing the CeO 2 layer in an interface reaction with metallic Ce. 30 The thin film of the ...

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Active catalytic sites have traditionally been analyzed based on static representations of surface structures and characterization of materials before or after reactions. We show here by a combination of in situ microscopy and spectroscopy techniques that, in the presence of reactants, an oxide catalyst's chemical state and morphology are dynamically modified. The reduction of Cu2O films is studied under ambient pressures (AP) of CO. The use of complementary techniques allows us to identify intermediate surface oxide phases and determine how reaction fronts propagate across the surface by massive mass transfer of Cu atoms released during the reduction of the oxide phase in the presence of CO. High resolution in situ imaging by AP scanning tunneling microscopy (AP-STM) shows that the reduction of the oxide films is initiated at defects both on step edges and the center of oxide terraces.