Size-dependent reactivity of Rh cationic clusters to reduce NO by CO in the gas phase at high temperatures.

The reactivity of the reduction of NO pre-adsorbed on Rh2-9+ clusters by CO was investigated using a combination of an alternate on-off gas injection method and thermal desorption spectrometry. The reduction of RhnNxOy+ clusters by CO was evaluated by varying the CO concentration at T = 903 K. Among the RhnNxOx+ clusters, the Rh3N2O2+ cluster exhibited the highest reduction activity, whereas the other clusters, Rh2,4-9NxOx+, showed lower reactivity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations for Rh3+ and Rh6+ revealed that the rate-determining step for NO reduction in the presence of CO was NO bond dissociation through the kinetics analysis using the RRKM theory. The reduction of Rh3N2O2+ is kinetically preferable to that of Rh6N2O2+. The DFT results were in qualitative agreement with the experimental results.

Enhanced oxygen storage capacity of cation-ordered cerium-zirconium oxide induced by titanium substitution.

Herein, we report on the synthesis of Ce0.5Zr0.5-xTixO2 oxygen storage materials prepared via a solution combustion method. Ce0.5Zr0.4Ti0.1O2 showed an outstanding oxygen storage capacity (1310 µmol-O per g) at 200 °C compared to conventional κ-Ce2Zr2O8 (650 µmol-O per g) due to its cation ordering and the formation of weakly bound oxygen atoms induced by Ti substitution.