Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2011
Dynamic redox processes in different complex copper oxides and oxide / mesoporous silica composites are characterized. In the spinel-type CuxMn3.xO4 the atomic and electronic structures are described with respect to the reversible process Cu2+ + Mn3+ ⇒ Cu3+ + Mn4+, the crucial dynamic equilibrium for the catalytic oxidation of CO to CO2 at ambient temperatures. A comparison with the perovskite-type LaCu1-xMnxO3-δ is presented. In the K2NiF4-type La2-xSrxCu1-yRuyO4-δ the electronic structure is characterized with respect to the equilibrium Cu2+ + Ru5+ ⇒ Cu3+ + Ru4+. Analogous redox processes are characterized in composite compounds made up of copper oxides inserted in mesoporous MCM-type silica. Due to their structural order in the nanoscopic range, the investigation of these materials required multiple, complementary characterization methods, i.e. X-ray diffractometry, thermal analysis, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, magnetic measurements, XPS, and particularly X-ray absorption spectroscopy (EXAFS / XANES) measurements.