Development of novel supported gold catalysts: A materials perspective

Since Haruta et al. discovered that small gold nanoparticles finely dispersed on certain metal oxide supports can exhibit surprisingly high activity in CO oxidation below room temperature, heterogeneous catalysis by supported gold nanoparticles has attracted tremendous attention. The majority of publications deal with the preparation and characterization of conventional gold catalysts (e. g., Au/TiO₂), the use of gold catalysts in various catalytic reactions, as well as elucidation of the nature of the active sites and reaction mechanisms. In this overview, we highlight the development of novel supported gold catalysts from a materials perspective. Examples, mostly from those reported by our group, are given concerning the development of simple gold catalysts with single metal-support interfaces and heterostructured gold catalysts with complicated interfacial structures. Catalysts in the first category include active Au/SiO₂ and Au/metal phosphate catalysts, and those in the second category include catalysts prepared by pre-modification of supports before loading gold, by post-modification of supported gold catalysts, or by simultaneous dispersion of gold and an inorganic component onto a support. CO oxidation has generally been employed as a probe reaction to screen the activities of these catalysts. These novel gold catalysts not only provide possibilities for applied catalysis, but also furnish grounds for fundamental research.