Advancing Ce–Cu–Al₂O₃ catalysts for waste-to-energy through strategic surface coordination modulation

Here, by varying the precipitation sequence during the synthesis of Ce–Cu–Al₂O₃ catalysts, surface-exposed atoms were controlled to dramatically enhance the intrinsic activity and stability. The reaction results revealed that the number of active sites were crucial at low temperatures. At high temperatures, the oxygen storage capacity and surface concentration of Ce³⁺ and Cu⁺ became key, with Ce or Al exposure protecting active Cu species from sintering-induced deactivation. Characterization and catalytic reaction results confirmed the superior WGS performance of the one-pot coprecipitated Ce–Cu–Al₂O₃ catalyst, which features abundant active Cu species, providing adsorption sites for CO activation and a lower energy barrier for H₂O dissociation (reaction rate: 76.35 μmol_COg_cat⁻¹s⁻¹; turnover frequency: 0.694 s⁻¹ at kinetic conditions). In addition, this catalyst exhibited high stability over 50 h, significantly outperforming the sequential impregnated Ce/Cu/Al₂O₃ catalyst, highlighting the importance of surface coordination structure in improving catalytic performance.