Reducing gas atmosphere (H₂, CO) assisted formation of Fe-Ce-O_x composite oxides with enhanced catalytic activity for water-gas shift reaction

Composite oxides of CeO2 nanorods and Fe2O3 nanoparticles were prepared by a reducing gas atmosphere (H-2 or CO) assisted hydrothermal method and used for the water-gas shift reaction. Powder XRD, Raman and XPS analyses showed that Fe3+ was introduced into the lattice space of CeO2 crystal structure to a significantly extent in a reducing gas atmosphere, which resulted in an increase in the activity of the catalyst for the water-gas shift reaction. DFT calculations showed that water molecules are more strongly adsorbed on the surface of the Fe-Ce-O-x composite oxide, which favors the water-gas shift reaction. Consequently, gas reductive atmosphere synthesis is considered to be an effective means to increasing the doping effect and prepare high performance WGS reaction catalysts.