Construction of sintering-resistant gold catalysts via ascorbic-acid inducing strong metal-support interactions

Maintaining high metal dispersion of supported metal catalysts to achieve superior reactivity under harsh conditions poses one of the main challenges for their practical applications. Constructing and regulating the strong metal-support interactions (SMSI) by diverse methodologies has emerged as one of the promising approaches to fabricating robust supported metal catalysts. In this study, we report an l-ascorbic acid (AA)-inducing strategy to generate SMSI on a titania-supported gold (Au) catalyst after high-temperature treatment in an inert atmosphere (600 °C, N2). The AA-induced SMSI can efficiently stabilize Au nanoparticles (NPs) and preserve their catalytic performance. The detailed study reveals that the key to realizing this SMSI is the generation of oxygen vacancies within the TiO₂ support induced by the adsorbed AA, which drives the formation of the TiO_x permeable layer onto the Au NPs. The strategy could be extended to TiO₂-supported Au catalysts with different crystal phases and platinum group metals, such as Pt, Pd, and Rh. This work offers a promising novel route to design stable and efficient supported noble metal catalysts by constructing SMSI using simple reducing organic adsorbent.