Operando DRIFTS study of the redox and catalytic properties of CuO/Ce(1-x)Tb(x)O(2-δ) (x = 0-0.5) catalysts: evidence of an induction step during CO oxidation.

Catalysts of 1 wt% copper oxide supported on cerium oxide or cerium-terbium mixed oxides are comparatively examined with respect to their redox and catalytic properties for CO oxidation. Characterization of the catalysts had shown that they contain highly dispersed CuO-type entities on the corresponding nanostructured fluorite supports with copper dispersion increasing with increasing amounts of terbium in the support. In contrast, the CO oxidation catalytic activity decreases with increasing amounts of terbium in the support. On the basis of operando-DRIFTS experiments, one of the factors that could explain such behaviour is related to the greater difficulty in generating reduced copper sites active for the reaction in the presence of terbium, which in turn is evidenced to constitute an induction stage. Analysis of the redox properties is complemented by XPS which confirms the greater resistance to copper reduction in the presence of terbium.