CeO2 Facet-Dependent Surface Reactive Intermediates and Activity during Ketonization of Propionic Acid

CeO2 rods, octahedrons, and cubes exposing well-defined (110), (111), and (100) surfaces, respectively, were synthesized and investigated for the catalytic ketonization of propionic acid. The intrinsic ketonization rates at 350 °C on the rods, octahedrons, and cubes are 54.3, 40.4, and 25.1 mmol·m–2·h–1, respectively, indicating that the (110) facet is the most active surface for ketonization. The reaction was tracked by both in situ infrared and mass spectroscopies under transient conditions, and the results showed that monodentate propionate, a minority surface species, is responsible for the formation of 3-pentanone. In contrast, bidentate propionate, a dominant species on all three surfaces, appears to a spectator for ketonization. Moreover, the ketonization activity can be correlated with relative concentration of monodentate propionate. A density functional theory study showed that the relative concentration of monodentate propionate (or the adsorption energy difference between monodentate and bidentate configurations) at high coverages is strongly dependent on the surface geometry. The stability of monodentate propionate on the (110) surface exposing both the O and Ce sites in the outermost layer with the well-separated Ce sites exhibits little dependence on the propionate coverage. In contrast, strong steric hindrance due to the top layer O atom and the closely packed Ce atoms in (111) destabilizes monodentate propionate significantly at high coverages. This study demonstrates that the surface geometrical structure of CeO2 can determine the abundance of the active monodentate propionate, which, in turn, will determine the catalytic activity of CeO2 for ketonization.