Confinement-Induced Indium Oxide Nanolayers Formed on Oxide Support for Enhanced CO 2 Hydrogenation Reaction

An enclosed nanospace often shows a significant confinement effect on chemistry within its inner cavity, while whether an open space can have this effect remains elusive. Here, we show that the open surface of TiO2 creates a confined environment for In2O3 which drives spontaneous transformation of free In2O3 nanoparticles in physical contact with TiO2 nanoparticles into In oxide (InOx) nanolayers covering onto the TiO2 surface during CO2 hydrogenation to CO. The formed InOx nanolayers are easy to create surface oxygen vacancies but are against over-reduction to metallic In in the H2-rich atmospheres, which thus show significantly enhanced activity and stability in comparison with the pure In2O3 catalyst. The…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Award: 21825203, 22332006, 22288201, and 22321002
• NK
  National Key Research and Development Program of China

  Award: 2021YFA1502800, 2022YFA1504800 and 2022YFA1504500