Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Volume 50, Issue 51, p12294-12298, December 16, 2011

Huizhi Bao, Wenhua Zhang, Qing Hua, Zhiquan Jiang, Jinlong Yang, and Weixin Huang

Keywords:

Cu₂O nanocrystals; nanocatalysis; oxidation; structure–activity relationships; surface chemistry

Crystal clear:

Uniform Cu₂O nanooctahedra (o-Cu₂O) and nanocubes (c-Cu₂O) undergo surface restructuring during CO oxidation for the in-situ formation of catalytically active CuO thin films to give CuO/o-Cu₂O and CuO/c-Cu₂O, respectively (see picture). The structure and catalytic performance of CuO thin films are controlled by the crystal plane exposed on the underlying Cu₂O nanocrystals.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201103698/full