Insights on ceria based catalysts obtained by environmental transmission electron microscopy studies
Résumé
Ceria is a rather important material for applications in catalysis both as a catalyst and as a catalyst support. Although widely studied by TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) and despite an exhaustive literature on the structure of reactive facets of CeO2 correlated to its catalytic mechanisms, the temporal evolution of the atomic surface structure exposed to realistic redox conditions together with its possible influence on the supported metallic phases remains elusive. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the latter we present several studies performed within realistic gas environments in a dedicated FEI Titan 80-300 aberration-corrected environmental TEM. Firstly, we provide a direct visualization and quantification of the cationic mobility on (100) surfaces of CeO2 nanocubes in different controlled environments and achieve control of the surface dynamics under exposure to realistic gas atmospheres. In a second step we present the morphological, structural and chemical changes on metallic catalysts supported on ceria during redox cycles through two examples: (i) Ir/CeO2 used in the steam reforming of methane; we observed changes in size and morphology of Ir nanoparticles associated with modification of its catalytic behavior that could be associated with the existence of a metastable iridium sesquioxide phase never observed before. (ii) Pt/CeO2 used as a diesel oxidation catalyst; we evidenced a dynamic structural behavior of Pt nanoparticles on the ceria surface under reducing/oxidizing conditions at moderate temperatures where redispersion occurs in oxidizing atmospheres whereas Pt nanoparticles reform under reducing conditions leading to a protocol to control Pt particle formation.