Metal-Support Interactions and C1 Chemistry: Transforming Pt-CeO2 into a Highly Active and Stable Catalyst for the Conversion of Carbon Dioxide and Methane

There is an ongoing search for materials which can accomplish the activation of two dangerous greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. In the area of Cl chemistry, the reaction between CO2 and CH4 to produce syngas (CO/H-2), known as methane dry reforming (MDR), is attracting a lot of interest due to its green nature. On Pt(111), high temperatures must be used to activate the reactants, leading to a substantial deposition of carbon which makes this metal surface useless for the MDR process. In this study, we show that strong metal-support interactions present in Pt/CeO2(111) and Pt/CeO2 powders lead to systems which can bind CO2 and CH4 well at room temperature and are excellent and stable catalysts for the MDR process at moderate temperature (500 degrees C). The behavior of these systems was studied using a combination of in situ/operando methods (AP-XPS, XRD, and XAFS) which pointed to an active Pt-CeO2, interface. In this interface, the oxide is far from being a passive spectator. It modifies the chemical properties of Pt, facilitating improved methane dissociation, and is directly involved in the adsorption and dissociation of CO2 making the MDR catalytic cycle possible. A comparison of the benefits gained by the use of an effective metaloxide interface and those obtained by plain bimetallic bonding indicates that the former is much more important when optimizing the Cl chemistry associated with CO2 and CH4 conversion. The presence of elements with a different chemical nature at the metaloxide interface opens the possibility for truly cooperative interactions in the activation of C-O and C-H bonds.