PtPd nanoparticles on LaCoO3 with ruthenium in the interfaces for CO oxidation

In this work, trimetallic Pt-Pd-Ru nanoparticles (NPs) loaded on LaCoO3 perovskite were prepared by using LaCo0.9PtxPdyRu0.1-x-yO3 as precursor through citrate complexing sol-gol method and characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption, XRD, H2 Temperature-programmed reduction, XPS, CO-TPD, ICP-OES and TEM techniques. The special structure of the trimetallic catalyst and its catalytic performance for CO oxidation were investigated. The results demonstrated that Pt, Ru and Pd ions were successfully incorporated into the lattice of LaCoO3 to form with perovskite structure. After the reduction treatment, the catalyst Pt-Pd-Ru/LaCoO3 was obtained, which exhibited special structure of Pt surface, Pd sub-surface and Ru interface. The trimetallic Pt-Pd-Ru/LaCoO3 displayed the highest activity and best stability for CO oxidation as compared with corresponding bimetallic and monometallic catalysts. The significant improvement on the catalytic activity was ascribed to the combination of the oxygen vacancies on the surface of LaCoO3 and the highly dispersed NPs. The excellent stability was owing to the special metal-support interaction, that is the Pt-Pd in the NPs are connected and adhered to the support of LaCoO3 by the Ru species in the interface.