Complete CO Oxidation over Cu2O Nanoparticles Supported on Silica Gel

Abstract

We find that nearly monodisperse copper oxide nanoparticles prepared via the thermal decomposition of a Cu(I) precursor exhibit exceptional activity toward CO oxidation in CO/O₂/N₂ mixtures. Greater than 99.5% conversion of CO to CO₂ could be achieved at temperatures less than 250 °C for over 12 h. In addition, the phase diagram and pathway for CO oxidation on Cu₂O (100) is computed by ab initio methods and found to be in qualitative agreement with the experimental findings.