文摘
Inverse oxide/metal catalysts have shown to be excellent systems for studying the role of the oxide and oxide–metal interface in catalytic reactions. These systems can have special structural and catalytic properties due to strong oxide–metal interactions difficult to attain when depositing a metal on a regular oxide support. Oxide phases that are not seen or are metastable in a bulk oxide can become stable in an oxide/metal system opening the possibility for new chemical properties. Using these systems, it has been possible to explore fundamental properties of the metal–oxide interface (composition, structure, electronic state), which determine catalytic performance in the oxidation of CO, the water–gas shift and the hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol. Recently, there has been a significant advance in the preparation of oxide/metal catalysts for technical or industrial applications. One goal is to identify methods able to control in a precise way the size of the deposited oxide particles and their structure on the metal substrate.