Recent progress in the synthesis of CeO2-based nanocatalysts towards efficient oxidation of CO

This review covers recent advances in the synthesis of cerium dioxide, its properties, and potential applications. Cerium dioxide is known for its abilities to form surface vacancies, store and release oxygen, as well as to increase the thermal stability of the material by metal-Ce interactions, etc. The crystallite size, specific surface area, morphology, and dispersion of CeO 2 nanoparticles can be significantly affected by the applied synthetic method, so it is necessary to assess its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, different synthesis methods of CeO 2 nanoparticles have been reviewed and assessed in the first part of the paper. In the second part of the review, we highlight our new and important findings in this field. In particular, advanced A 2 O/CuO/CeO 2 (A = Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs) nanocatalysts have been prepared and tested towards the low-temperature CO oxidation. Each synthesized composite consists of nanosized CeO 2 crystallites and amorphous incorporated oxides (CuO and A 2 O). The highest catalytic activity has been achieved for the 1Li 2 O/20CuO/80CeO 2 sample with 20% CO conversion at 93 °C. Increasing the Li 2 O loading to 2 and 3 at.% did not enhance the catalytic activity due to the lower specific surface area of the obtained samples. It has been shown that CO adsorption is increased due to synergistic metal oxide-ceria interactions on the catalyst surface and, Li + promotion stabilizing the Cu + species.