Morphology-dependent surface chemistry and catalysis of CeO2 nanocrystals

Abstract

Surface chemistry and catalysis over oxide nanocrystals with well-defined morphologies are emerging as a hot topic, and the relevant progress on CeO₂ nanocrystals is critically reviewed. CeO₂ nanocrystals expose morphology-dependent crystal planes on their surfaces, and CeO₂ nanocrystal and metal/CeO₂ nanocrystal catalysts exhibit morphology-dependent surface chemistry and catalysis. A comprehensive analysis of the published literature nicely correlates the surface chemistry and catalysis of CeO₂ nanocrystal and metal/CeO₂ nanocrystal catalysts with the surface composition/structure and oxygen vacancy structure of exposed CeO₂ crystal planes. A concept of morphology engineering of oxide nanocrystals not only for the optimization of the catalytic performance but also for the fundamental understanding of the structure–activity relation and catalytic reaction mechanism is discussed.