Regulating electronic metal-support interaction by synthetic methods to enhance the toluene degradation over Pt/Co3O4 catalysts

The synthesis method of precious metal catalysts would affect the electronic metal-support interaction (EMSI) of catalysts, which further affected the catalytic activity. In this paper, Co3O4 was obtained as support by the pyrolysis of ZIF-67 as a template sacrificial agent, and Pt species were loaded by three different reduction methods. Among them, the catalyst produced by the NaBH4 reduction method possessed the best activity with T90 of 168 degrees C. Through a series of characterization and experiments, it was found that the EMSI of the catalyst was optimized by this synthesis method, which led to electron transfer among Pt species and Co3O4. The catalysts also exhibited excellent water resistance, stability, and recycling performance. The possible degradation mechanism of toluene was also revealed by in situ DRIFTS and GC-MS. This paper provided ideas for the construction of catalysts and a theoretical reference for the relevant verification of EMSI.

Automated summary

In this paper, three different reduction methods were used to synthesize Pt-loaded Co3O4, and it was found that the catalyst produced by the NaBH4 reduction method had the best activity. Through characterization and experiments, it was revealed that this synthesis method optimized the electronic metal-support interaction (EMSI) of the catalyst, leading to electron transfer between Pt species and Co3O4. The catalysts also showed excellent water resistance, stability, and recycling performance, and the possible degradation mechanism of toluene was revealed as well.