Water gas shift is the most widespread industrial process for the production of dihydrogen, H. It involves the reaction of carbon monoxide and water (syngas) to form hydrogen and carbon dioxide as a byproduct. In many catalytic reaction schemes, one of the elementary reactions is the oxidation of CO with an adsorbed oxygen species. Gold catalysts have been proposed as an alternative for water gas shift at low temperatures, viz. O catalyst has been proven highly active and stable for low-temperature water gas shift. Titania and ceria have also been used as supports for effective catalysts. Unfortunately, Au/CeO is prone to deactivation caused by surface-bound carbonate or formate species.
Although gold catalysts are active at room temperature to CO oxidation, the high amounts of water involved in water gas shift require higher temperatures. At such temperatures, gold is fully reduced to its metallic form. However, the activity of e.g. Au/CeO has been enhanced by CN treatment, whereby metallic gold is leached, leaving behind highly active cations. According to DFT calculations, the presence of such Au cations on the catalyst is allowed by empty, localized nonbonding f states in CeO. On the other hand, STEM studies of Au/CeO have revealed nanoparticles of 3 nm in diameter. Water gas shift has been proposed to occur at the interface of Au nanoparticles and the reduced CeO support.