Boosting catalytic stability for VOCs removal by constructing PtCu alloy structure with superior oxygen activation behavior

The elimination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from the process of industry production is of great significance to improve the atmospheric environment. Herein the catalytic oxidation of the toluene and iso-hexane mixture, as the typical components from furniture paint industry, and the enhancement in the catalytic stability for toluene oxidation were investigated in detail. The formation rate of active oxygen species was very important for the development of the catalyst with high catalytic stability. Compared with the Pt/M catalyst, the Pt-Cu/M catalyst owned stronger ability of VOCs adsorption and gaseous oxygen activation by introducing additional sites for activating O2. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood (adsorbed oxygen) and Mars-van Krevelen (lattice oxygen) mechanism existed in toluene oxidation over the present Pt/M and Pt-Cu/M catalysts, respectively. The change in the involved active oxygen species during toluene oxidation was resulted from the Pt-Cu alloy structure. In addition to the adsorption of O2, a part of active lattice oxygen species can also be replenished by the migration of bulk lattice oxygen over Pt-Cu/M. With a rise in the reaction temperature, weakly adsorbed iso-hexane could be timely reacted with the more active lattice oxygen species to keep the catalytic stability over the Pt/M and Pt-Cu/M catalysts. Generally, we not only prepared a promising material for the catalytic removal of VOCs from the furniture paint industry, but also provided a new strategy for the generation of active oxygen species, making the catalyst exhibit high catalytic oxidation stability.