Deciphering the Metal–Support Interaction of Au/ZnO Catalyst Induced by H₂ and O₂ Pretreatment

Metal-support interaction (MSI) provides great possibilities to tune the activity, selectivity, and stability of heterogeneous catalysts. Herein, the Au/ZnO catalyst is prepared by commercial ZnO and chloroauric acid, and the structure evolution of the catalyst pretreated by H2 and O2 gas at varied temperature is investigated to provide mechanistic insights of MSI. It is found that the H2 treatment at 300 °C and above can induce the formation of both the ZnOx overlayer and bulk Au-Zn alloy. In contrast, the O2 treatment can form the ZnOx overlayer at 500 °C and above without the formation of Au-Zn alloy. It is also revealed that the ZnOx overlayer is dynamically stable (permeable), which can provide access for reactant molecules during the reaction process. And, the Au-Zn alloy can recover to Au and ZnO under the CO oxidation reaction condition, which can be deemed as a re-activation process that endows H2 -treated samples with the superior activity and stability.