Photoemission Spectroscopy Study of Cu/CeO2 Systems: Cu/CeO2 Nanosized Catalyst and CeO2(111)/Cu(111) Inverse Model Catalyst

Cerium oxide films equivalent to 2 ML of CeO 2 were grown at 520 K in an oxygen atmosphere on a clean Cu(111) substrate in order to prepare a model catalytic system. This “inverse model catalyst” was characterized by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of core levels, and resonant photoelectron spectroscopy (RPES) of the valence band. Samples annealed at 770 K exhibited a LEED pattern corresponding to the (1.5 × 1.5) CeO 2 (111)/Cu(111) structure that can be interpreted as formation of a flat, well-ordered cerium oxide overlayer aligned with the principal crystallographic axes of the substrate. The model catalytic system corresponds well to a copper-loaded ceria nanopowder catalyst that exhibits growth of Cu(111) film structure on CeO 2 (111) planes. Lowering of the CO oxidation temperature due to the Cu loading is explained by CO adsorption on copper in the vicinity of highly active ceria planes providing oxygen for the reaction.