Catalytically active gold: The role of cluster morphology Original Research Article

Recent studies of the CO oxidation activity exhibited by highly dispersed nano-gold (Au) catalysts have reached the following conclusions: (a) bilayer structures of Au are critical; (b) a strong interaction between Au and the support leads to wetting and electron-rich Au; (c) oxidative environments deactivate Au catalyst by re-oxidizing the support, which causes the Au to de-wet and sinter. Recent results have shown that the direct intervention of the support is not necessary to facilitate the CO oxidation reaction; therefore, an Au-only mechanism is sufficient to explain the reaction kinetics.