Copper on ceria is an excellent catalyst for the low-temperature water–gas shift reaction. Here the active sites are directly imaged by electron microscopy and probed with in situ spectroscopy, showing that the reaction proceeds via a cooperative mechanism whereby the Cu+ chemically adsorbs CO while an adjacent Ov–Ce3+ site dissociatively activates H2O.
- Aling Chen
- Xiaojuan Yu
- Wenjie Shen
