Engineering Dual Active Sites at the Interface between Nanoporous Pt and Nanosized CeO2 to Enhance Photo-Thermocatalytic CO Oxidation

Effective catalytic oxidation of toxic emissions at low temperatures has great significance on environmental protection. Herein, a novel structure of Pt/CeO2 catalyst, composed of abundant CeO2 clusters captured by nanoporous Pt particles, is designed to enhance the photo-thermocatalytic CO oxidation by boosting the amount of active sites. The nanosized CeO2 support is fabricated by vacuum thermal decomposition and then the Pt/CeO2 catalyst with a nanoporous structure is synthesized by a one-pot solution reduction method in a mild condition. The synthesized catalyst exhibits great low-temperature CO catalytic oxidation activity, and the temperature for 90% CO conversion is 154 degrees C, achieving comparable catalytic activity with the single-atom Pt/CeO2 catalyst. Abundant dual active sites, in terms of active oxygen absorbed on the oxygen vacancies and spillover from ceria to Pt, and active Pt sites located near the perimeter of the Pt-CeO2 interface, are formed to improve the photo-thermocatalytic activity for CO oxidation.

Automated summary

This study presents a novel Pt/CeO2 catalyst structure that enhances the active site density for CO oxidation, exhibiting excellent low-temperature catalytic activity with 90% CO conversion reached at 154 degrees Celsius, comparable to the single-atom Pt/CeO2 catalyst. Abundant dual active sites, including active oxygen absorbed on oxygen vacancies, spillover from ceria to Pt, and active Pt sites near the Pt-CeO2 interface perimeter, contribute to improved photo-thermocatalytic activity for CO oxidation.