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Surface Faceting and Reconstruction of Ceria Nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Yang Chengwu,
Yu Xiaojuan,
Heißler Stefan,
Nefedov Alexei,
Colussi Sara,
Llorca Jordi,
Trovarelli Alessandro,
Wang Yuemin,
Wöll Christof
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201609179
Subject(s) - faceting , materials science , surface reconstruction , nanoparticle , surface (topology) , nanotechnology , geometry , crystallography , chemistry , mathematics
The surface atomic arrangement of metal oxides determines their physical and chemical properties, and the ability to control and optimize structural parameters is of crucial importance for many applications, in particular in heterogeneous catalysis and photocatalysis. Whereas the structures of macroscopic single crystals can be determined with established methods, for nanoparticles (NPs), this is a challenging task. Herein, we describe the use of CO as a probe molecule to determine the structure of the surfaces exposed by rod‐shaped ceria NPs. After calibrating the CO stretching frequencies using results obtained for different ceria single‐crystal surfaces, we found that the rod‐shaped NPs actually restructure and expose {111} nanofacets. This finding has important consequences for understanding the controversial surface chemistry of these catalytically highly active ceria NPs and paves the way for the predictive, rational design of catalytic materials at the nanoscale.