Strong Metal–Support Interaction in Pd/CeO2 Promotes the Catalytic Activity of Ethyl Acetate Oxidation

To study the promoting effect of strong metal–support interactions (SMSIs) on the catalytic oxidation of ethyl acetate, a series of Pd/CeO2 catalysts with different CeO2 support morphologies of nanocubes (NC), spindles (SP), and nanospheres (NS) were prepared for the catalytic oxidation of ethyl acetate. The study indicated that the catalytic activity of Pd/CeO2 catalysts possessed a significant structure–activity relationship. A series of characterization results revealed that the SMSIs between Pd nanoparticles (NPs) and the CeO2 support optimized surface chemical states, promoted the formation of surface oxygen vacancies, activated the surface oxygen species, and improved the low-temperature reducibility. Among all of these catalysts, Pd/CeO2-SP exhibited the best catalytic activity for ethyl acetate oxidation (T90 = 180 °C, WHSV = 60 000 mL g–1 h–1), which was attributed to the SMSIs between Pd NPs and the CeO2-SP support.