Surface oxide “shielding” FeOx catalysts under harsh industrial conditions

Iron-based catalysts are central to the high-temperature water-gas shift (HT-WGS) reaction, a key process for large-scale hydrogen production. However, under high-temperature and strongly reducing conditions, active iron oxide species are easily over-reduced to metallic iron, leading to rapid deactivation. Industrial catalysts typically rely on chromium promoters and high steam consumption to maintain stability, which raise environmental and energy concerns.

Recently, a research team led by Prof. Qiang Fu and Prof. Xinhe Bao from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences reported a shielding strategy by surface oxide overlayer to stabilize Fe oxide catalysts viathe interface confinement effect.A small amount of ceria was introduced onto the Fe₂O₃ surface via a novel melting-wetting method, forming submonolayer oxide overlayers. These surface oxide overlayers create a protective “shielding zone” at the interface, which promotes formation of the active Fe₃O₄ phase while effectively suppresses further over-reduction to inactive metallic iron under the harsh HT-WGS conditions.CeO_x overlayers modified Fe₂O₃catalyst exhibits significantly enhanced stability compared with pure Fe₂O₃ and even industrial FeCrO_x catalysts.

This work demonstrates that precise surface oxide–oxide interactions can regulate the redox behavior of active oxide catalysts. The proposed interface confinement strategy provides a new pathway for designing robust oxide catalysts to operate under harsh industrial conditions while reducing reliance on toxic promoters and excessive steam consumption. This work published in Chinese Journal of Catalysis (DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(25)64900-X).

About the Journal

Chinese Journal of Catalysis is co-sponsored by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Chemical Society, and it is currently published by Elsevier group. This monthly journal publishes in English timely contributions of original and rigorously reviewed manuscripts covering all areas of catalysis. The journal publishes Reviews, Accounts, Communications, Articles, Highlights, Perspectives, and Viewpoints of highly scientific values that help understanding and defining of new concepts in both fundamental issues and practical applications of catalysis. Chinese Journal of Catalysis ranks among the top one journals in Applied Chemistry with a current SCI impact factor of 17.7. The Editors-in-Chief are Profs. Can Li and Tao Zhang.

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