A novel Ce0.485Zr0.485Y0.03O2 composite oxide with surface doping of Y and its application in Pd-only three-way catalyst

The ceria-zirconia compound oxide-supported noble metal Pd (Pd@CZ) is widely used in three-way catalyst. Moreover, the surface structure of CZ plays an important role in catalytic activity of Pd. However, how to regulate the surface structure of CZ and clarify the structure-activity relationship is still a challenge. In this paper, a strategy is proposed to develop high activity Pd@CZ nanocatalysts by tuning Y doping sites in CZ. The precipitate-deposition method is developed to prepare the novel Ce(0.485)Z(r0.485)Y(0.03)O(2) composite with surface doping of Y (CZ-Y-S). In addition, the Pd@CZ-Y-S (Pd supported on CZ-Y-S) exhibits superior catalytic activity for HC, CO, and NO oxide, wherein, for CO and C3H6 oxidation, the low-temperature activity of Pd@CZ-Y-S is still 20% higher than that of Pd@CZ-Y-B (Y bulk doping) and commercial Pd@CZ after 1000 degrees C/4 h aging. The effect mechanism is further studied by density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Compared with Pd@CZ-Y-B, Pd@CZ-Y-S shows the lower CO oxide reaction energy barriers due to the weaker adsorption strength of O-2. The Y surface doping strategy could provide valuable insights for the development of highly efficient Pd@CZ catalyst with extensive applications.