Evolution of steady-state material properties during catalysis: Oxidative coupling of methanol over nanoporous Ag 0.03 Au 0.97
Activating pretreatments are used to tune surface composition and structure of bimetallic-alloy catalysts. Herein, the activation-induced changes in material properties of a nanoporous Ag 0.03 Au 0.97 alloy and their subsequent evolution under steady-state CH 3 OH oxidation conditions are investigated. Activation using O 3 results in AgO and Au 2 O 3 , strongly enriching the near-surface region in Ag. These oxides reduce in the O 2 /CH 3 OH mixture, yielding CO 2 and producing a highly Ag-enriched surface alloy. At the reaction tem-perature (423 K), Ag realloys gradually with Au but remains enriched (stabilized by surface O) in the top few nanometers, producing methyl formate selectively without significant deactivation. At higher tem-peratures, bulk diffusion induces sintering and Ag redistribution, leading to a loss of activity. These find-ings demonstrate that material properties determining catalytic activity are dynamic and that metastable (kinetically trapped) forms of the material may be responsible for catalysis, providing guiding principles concerning the activation of heterogeneous catalysts for selective oxidation.