Investigation on Cu promotion effect on Ce-based solid solution-anchored Rh single atoms for three-way catalysis

The three-way catalyst (TWC), as a promising approach to control automobile exhaust emission, has been widely studied and applied. However, it still suffers from the high light-off temperature and poor stability. Herein, we synthesized a multicomponent catalyst Rh/Cu-CeSn by using Cu metal doping to modify the Ce-based solid solution, which exhibited good TWC catalytic performance: the light-off temperatures for CO, NO, and C3H6 conversion are 172 °C, 266 °C, and 193 °C, respectively. Moreover, the catalyst still maintained good activity after 12 h of the continuous reaction under high-temperature conditions. The experiments and mechanism studies reveal that due to the redox pair Cu+/Cu2+, the Cu incorporation can effectively inhibit the Rh transition to the oxidation state and greatly enhance the catalytic activity and stability. This work provides a viable strategy for precise characteristic modulation of composite oxide supports during the fabrication of noble metal-based catalysts, which significantly reduces environmental pollution from energy applications.