'Shape effects' in metal oxide supported nanoscale gold catalysts.

We report the activity of shape-controlled metal oxide (CeO(2), ZnO and Fe(3)O(4)) supported gold catalysts for the steam reforming of methanol (SRM) and the water gas shift (WGS) reactions. Metal oxide nanoshapes, prepared by controlled hydrolysis and thermolysis methods, expose different crystal surfaces, and consequently disperse and stabilize gold differently. We observe that similar to gold supported on CeO(2) shapes exposing the {110} and {111} surfaces, gold supported on the oxygen-rich ZnO {0001} and Fe(3)O(4) {111} surfaces shows higher activity for the SRM and WGS reactions.