Unique structure of active platinum-bismuth site for oxidation of carbon monoxide

As the technology development, the future advanced combustion engines must be designed to perform at a low temperature. Thus, it is a great challenge to synthesize high active and stable catalysts to resolve exhaust below 100 degrees C. Here, we report that bismuth as a dopant is added to form platinum-bismuth cluster on silica for CO oxidation. The highly reducible oxygen species provided by surface metal-oxide (M-O) interface could be activated by CO at low temperature (similar to 50 degrees C) with a high CO2 production rate of 487 mu mol(CO2)center dot g(Pt)(-1)center dot s(-1) at 110 degrees C. Experiment data combined with density functional calculation (DFT) results demonstrate that Pt cluster with surface Pt-O-Bi structure is the active site for CO oxidation via providing moderate CO adsorption and activating CO molecules with electron transformation between platinum atom and carbon monoxide. These findings provide a unique and general approach towards design of potential excellent performance catalysts for redox reaction.