Two series of nanostructured oxidized copper-cerium catalysts with varying copper loadings, and prepared, respectively, by impregnation of ceria and by coprecipitation of the two components within reverse microemulsions, have been characterized in detail at structural and electronic levels by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) (including Ar + -sputtering), and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS). These results have been correlated with analysis of their catalytic properties for preferential oxidation of CO in a H 2 -rich stream (CO-PROX), complemented by Operando-DRIFTS. A relevant difference between the two series of catalysts concerns the nature of the support for the surface-dispersed copper oxide entities, which is essentially ceria for the samples prepared by impregnation and a Ce-Cu mixed oxide for those prepared by microemulsion-coprecipitation. The existence of copper segregation in the form of copper oxide or copper-enriched Cu-Ce mixed oxides for the latter type of samples is uniquely revealed by nanoprobe XEDS and XPS Ar + -sputtering experiments. The CO oxidation activity under CO-PROX conditions is correlated to the degree of support-promoted reduction achieved by the dispersed copper oxide particles under reaction conditions. Nevertheless, catalysts which display higher CO oxidation activity are generally more efficient also for the undesired H 2 oxidation reaction. The balance between both reactions results in differences in the CO-PROX activity between the two series of catalysts which are examined on the basis of the structural differences found.

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Nanostructured TiO2 samples with primary particle size in the 4−20 nm range were prepared by either hydrothermal (H) or thermal (T) treatment of an amorphous precursor, and their behavior under UV illumination at 77 K was studied by means of EPR spectroscopy. The samples of the H series present the smallest crystallite size and after irradiation in a vacuum show some Ti3+ centers. In contrast, under these conditions only weak signals associated with oxygenated radicals are observed for the T samples. However, when oxygen is preadsorbed, several oxygenated complexes (O-, O2 -, O2H•, and O3 -) are photogenerated in proportions that depend on the characteristics of the material. Subsurface O- species are exclusively detected in the case of the samples of the H series, whereas ozonide radicals and surface O- are stabilized on materials with larger crystalline domains. These oxygenated complexes are thermally unstable, and they disappeared after warming to room temperature in the case of the T samples, but they are transformed to O2 - on the surface of the hydrothermally treated TiO2. Since adsorbed water and different types of free hydroxyls are present on these materials, as revealed by FTIR, a number of surface reactions have to be considered in order to account for the formation and stability of such photogenerated species.