Catalysis Science of Bulk Mixed Oxides

Bulk mixed oxide catalysts are widely used for various applications (selective oxidation catalysts, electrocatalysts for solid oxide fuel cells, and solid oxide electrolyzers for the production of hydrogen), but fundamental understanding of their structure–performance relationships have lagged in the literature. The absence of suitable surface composition and surface structural characterization techniques and methods to determine the number of catalytic active sites, with the latter needed for determination of specific reaction rates (e.g., turnover frequency (1/s)), have hampered the development of sound fundamental concepts in this area of heterogeneous catalysis. This Perspective reviews the traditional concepts that have been employed to explain catalysis by bulk mixed oxides (molybdates, vanadates, spinels, perovskites, and several other specific mixed oxide systems) and introduces a modern perspective to the fundamental surface structure–activity/selectivity relationships for bulk mixed oxide catalysts. The new insights have recently been made available by advances in surface characterization techniques (low-energy ion scattering, energy-resolved XPS, and CH3OH-IR) that allow for direct analysis of the outermost surface layer of bulk mixed metal oxide catalysts. The new findings sound a note of caution for the accepted hypotheses and concepts, and new catalysis models need to be developed that are based on the actual surface features of bulk mixed oxide catalysts.