title: In situ oxidation of carbon-encapsulated cobalt nanocapsules creates highly active cobalt oxide catalysts for hydrocarbon combustion.
abstract: Combustion catalysts have been extensively explored to reduce the emission of hydrocarbons that are capable of triggering photochemical smog and greenhouse effect. Palladium as the most active material is widely applied in exhaust catalytic converter and combustion units, but its high capital cost stimulates the tremendous research on non-noble metal candidates. Here we fabricate highly defective cobalt oxide nanocrystals via a controllable oxidation of carbon-encapsulated cobalt nanoparticles. Strain gradients induced in the nanoconfined carbon shell result in the formation of a large number of active sites featuring a considerable catalytic activity for the combustion of a variety of hydrocarbons (methane, propane and substituted benzenes). For methane combustion, the catalyst displays a unique activity being comparable or even superior to the palladium ones.
authors.affiliation: Shenyang National Laboratory for Material Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of New Energy Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Road, Ningbo 315201, China.
authors.forename: Chunlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of New Energy Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Road, Ningbo 315201, China.
authors.forename: Yexin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Science and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory, Mianyang 621907, China.
authors.forename: Lixia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Shenyang National Laboratory for Material Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Shenyang National Laboratory for Material Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, China.
authors.forename: Teng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Shenyang National Laboratory for Material Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, China.
authors.forename: Huaihong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Shenyang National Laboratory for Material Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, China.
authors.forename: Zhidong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shenyang National Laboratory for Material Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, China.
authors.forename: Dang Sheng
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Institute of New Energy Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Road, Ningbo 315201, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang