Bottom-up synthesis of a pyramid-type (Pt/4nmCeO2)/SiO2 catalyst via a surface reduction strategy

The interfaces in heterogeneous catalysts play an important role in their performances by either directly providing active sites through the synergistic effects from different catalyst compositions or indirectly modulating the state of active sites. However, constructing abundant interfaces in heterogeneous catalysts is a key scientific challenge since it requires the high dispersion of all catalyst compositions involved in substrate activation. A surface reduction strategy is proposed as the solution for this challenge, which creates a pyramid-type catalyst, (Pt/4nmCeO2)/SiO2, with maximized interfacial Pt–CeO2 sites as an example. Pt is chemically bound in surface reductive centers of 4 nm CeO2 nano-islands, generating stable Pt2+ sites with moderate hydrogenation capacity compared to Pt0 sites on bulk CeO2 and SiO2. This work facilitates the development of heterogeneous catalysts by presenting a high level of controlling the local chemical environment within nanomaterials.