Although the importance of a Au/oxide perimeter interface was recognized in the field of gold catalysis, the experimental evidence on the reaction occurring at the perimeter was still limited. In this research, in situ electrical conductance measurements (in situ ECM) were used to measure the CO oxidation with O2 over Au/TiO2 catalyst powder and it was found that the oxygen vacancies were generated at the Au/TiO2 perimeter interface during the CO oxidation. The present result supported a reaction model in which oxygen molecules were activated on such oxygen vacancies.

Generation of Oxygen Vacancies at a Au/TiO2 Perimeter Interface during Co Oxidation Detected by in situ Electrical Conductance Measurement. Maeda, Y., Iizuka, Y., Kohyama, M.: Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013, 135[2], 906-9