We report an aberration-corrected electron microscopy analysis of the adhesion and atomic structures of gold nanoparticle catalysts supported on ceria nanocubes and nanorods. Under oxidative conditions, the as-prepared gold nanoparticles on the ceria nanocubes have extended atom layers at the metal-support interface. In contrast, regular gold nanoparticles and rafts are present on the ceria nanorod supports. Under the reducing conditions of water-gas shift reaction, the extended gold atom layers and rafts vanish. In addition, the gold particles on the nanocubes change in morphology and increase in size while those on the nanorods are almost unchanged. The size, morphology, and atomic interface structures of gold strongly depend on the surface structures of ceria supports ((100) surface versus (111) surface) and the reaction environment (reductive versus oxidative). These findings provide insights into the deactivation mechanisms and the shape-dependent catalysis of oxide supported metal catalysts.
Keywords: Gold; aberration corrected STEM HAADF; adhesion; atomic structures; catalysis; ceria; nanocube; nanorods.