Engineering Pt–CeO2 interfaces for reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction†

Nowadays, Pt–CeO₂ interfaces are very popular in many applications. In particular, this system is widely used in catalysis for the reverse water gas-shift (RWGS) reaction aiming to stop the dangerous advancement of the global warming effect. Nevertheless, some complex atomic events occurring at this interface are still unclear. In this work, superhydrophobic Pt–CeO₂ nanoparticles were used in the RWGS reaction aiming to shift the equilibrium of the RWGS reaction towards the formation of CO. It was demonstrated that this sample presents a highly reducible CeO₂ surface and an easy tunability of the O vacancy population, which is the main active site of metal oxides in catalysis. Consequently, the Pt–CeO₂ superhydrophobic sample presents improved performance towards CO formation in the RWGS reaction. During the RWGS reaction, the Pt nanoparticles suffer from the strong metal–support interaction (SMSI) effect that may hinder the catalytically active sites but, even so, the superhydrophobic Pt–CeO₂ nanoparticles are active in the RWGS reaction. It opens new frontiers in the engineering of active superhydrophobic Pt–CeO₂ interfaces with tunable O vacancy population.