Co 3 O 4 is an attractive earth-abundant catalyst for CO oxidation, and its high catalytic activity has been attributed to Co 3+ cations surrounded by Co 2+ ions. Hence, the majority of efforts for enhancing the activity of Co 3 O 4 have been focused on exposing more Co 3+ cations on the surface. Herein, we enhance the catalytic activity of Co 3 O 4 by replacing the Co 2+ ions in the lattice with Cu 2+ . Polycrystalline Co 3 O 4 nanowires for which Co 2+ is substituted with Cu 2+ are synthesized using a modified hydrothermal method. The Cusubstituted Co 3 O 4 _Cux polycrystalline nanowires exhibit much higher catalytic activity for CO oxidation than pure Co 3 O 4 polycrystalline nanowires and catalytic activity similar to those single crystalline Co 3 O 4 nanobelts with predominantly exposed most active {110} planes. Our computational simulations reveal that Cu 2+ substitution for Co 2+ is preferred over Co 3+ both in the Co 3 O 4 bulk and at the surface. The presence of Cu dopants changes the CO adsorption on the Co 3+ surface sites only slightly, but the oxygen vacancy is more favorably formed in the bonding of Co 3+ −O−Cu 2+ than in Co 3+ −O−Co 2+ . This study provides a general approach for rational optimization of nanostructured metal oxide catalysts by substituting inactive cations near the active sites and thereby increasing the overall activity of the exposed surfaces.
■ INTRODUCTIONCarbon monoxide (CO) emission from transportation and industrial activities is harmful to both human health and the environment. Currently, CO emission is effectively reduced, mainly through catalytic oxidation over catalysts. 1−4 The most active catalysts for CO oxidation are noble metals, but they are expensive and are of limited supply. Co 3 O 4 has emerged as an attractive alternative catalyst for CO oxidation because of its optimal CO adsorption strength, low barrier for CO reaction with lattice O, and excellent redox capacity. 1,5−8 A breakthrough on Co 3 O 4 for catalytic CO oxidation showing that Co 3 O 4 nanorods with predominantly exposed {110} planes exhibit a much higher catalytic activity for CO oxidation and larger resistance to deactivation by water than Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles was reported by Xie et al. 9 The high catalytic activity of Co 3 O 4 {110} planes is attributed to its higher concentration of Co 3+ cations (correspondingly fewer Co 2+ cations) than other crystal planes, since only Co 3+ cations surrounded by Co 2+ ions are active for catalytic oxidation of CO. 10,11 Subsequently, a number of Co 3 O 4 nanostructures, ranging from nanobelts, nanospheres, nanocubes, and nanotubes to nanowires, have been synthesized with the purpose of preferentially exposing Co 3+ cations. 11−14 Nevertheless, regardless of the morphology of the Co 3 O 4 nanostructures, even the highly active Co 3 O 4 {110} planes still contain Co 2+ cations, which have been assumed to be inactive for catalytic oxidation of CO, 9−11 and ultimately limits the catalytic activity of Co 3 O 4 for CO oxidation. Therefore, substituting Co 2+ with...