Exsolved metal-boosted active perovskite oxide catalyst for stable water gas shift reaction

Abstract

We designed a Ni-exsolved perovskite catalyst for the high-temperature water–gas shift reaction. The perovskite particle has the formula of La0.9Fe0.95Ni0.05O3 and has metal nanoparticles (NPs) exsolved on its surface after reduction treatment. XRD, SEM, HR-TEM and XPS analyses were used to confirm the existence of the exsolved Ni metal NPs. This catalyst provided higher CO conversion and H2 yield, and exceptionally better catalytic stability than the commercial catalyst. Temperature-programmed desorption and reduction measurements revealed the active sites for the enhanced activity. Density functional theory calculations and DRIFT results elucidated the reaction mechanism on this catalyst. We believe that our results can increase the possibility of achieving an effective and economical catalyst for a wide range of heterogeneous catalytic reactions.