The
active sites of a mixed Cu/Ce material and the doping effect
of typical element (iron, Fe) on the active species and the catalytic
behavior of Cu/Ce for CO preferential oxidation in rich H2 (CO-PROX) were investigated by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared
Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS), in situ oxygen storage capacity
measurement (OSC) combined with designed temperature-programmed reduction
(TPR), along with Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray
diffraction (XRD), and temperature-programmed desorption/reduction
of CO (CO-TPD/TPR). These results showed that two kinds of surface
active center were involved in the CuCe- and Fe-doped CuCe systems,
that is, Cu+ as adsorption sites for the chemisorption
and the activation of CO molecules, the surface reactive oxygen (the
highly dispersed oxygen and surface lattice oxygen) that directly
participated in the whole CO oxidation process. The addition of Fe
into CuCe sample resulted in the incorporation of Fe into CeO2 lattice forming Fe–O–Ce structure and generated
more oxygen vacancies, which not only enhanced the interaction between
Cu and Ce to form more Cu+ absorption sites but also trapped
the gas-phase oxygen and promoted the release of subsurface lattice
oxygen to supply more reactive oxygen. Thus, the turnover frequency
(TOF) value was increased from 3.62 × 10–2 s–1 for CuCe to 4.50 × 10–2 s–1 for Fe-doped CuCe. Moreover, with the enhancement
of the lattice oxygen migration combined with the promotional role
of Fe on the water gas shift (WGS), the capacity of the resistance
to CO2 and H2O was enhanced for Fe-doping CuCe,
and the corresponding stability time was largely prolonged from 170
to 400 h, in the coexistence of CO2 and H2O.