The interplay of Au nanoparticles and ZnO nanorods for oxygen-promoted, base-free, complete formaldehyde reforming into H2 and CO2

Abstract

Au nanoparticles on ZnO nanorods is a sustainable catalyst for oxygen-promoted, base-free, complete formaldehyde reforming into H2 and CO2 at low temperatures. The strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) between Au and ZnO is suggested to be responsible for this catalytic feature partially due to the presence of surface cationic Au+ species formed during high temperature treatment in air. in-situ EPR and resonance Raman analysis show that a two-electron reduction pathway is involved to produce hydrogen peroxide as the active species and CH bond cleavage is the rate-determining step.