In situ Atomic Scale Observation of Cu₂O Reduction Under Methanol

Cu-based catalysts are widely used in methanol related reactions, such as partial oxidation of methanol, water-gas shift and methanol synthesis. Reduction of Cu oxides under methanol (MeOH) is also applied in the pretreatment or regeneration of a catalyst. The reduction process of Cu oxides (Cu2O, CuO) plays an important role in controlling the reaction mechanism of catalytic reactions. Phase transformations between Cu and Cu oxides under oxidizing or reducing (redox) conditions are often found to alter the reactivity and selectivity of these reactions.[1] Although Cu-based catalytic reactions have been studied in much detail in terms of active phases of Cu using both experimental methods such as XPS and theoretical methods such as DFT, in terms of active sites, the dynamic microstructure transformations among different Cu phases under catalytic conditions is less investigated, especially at atomic scale, due to lack of experimental approaches.