Introduce oxygen vacancies into CeO2 catalyst for enhanced coke resistance during photothermocatalytic oxidation of typical VOCs

Carbon deposit during the catalytic oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a key factor to restrict long-term stability of catalysts. Herein, a modified ordered porous catalyst with high coke-resistance performance was developed by introducing oxygen vacancies (OVs) into CeO2 through simple redox and steam treatment (ARCeO2), and applied in efficiently photothermocatalytic degradation of VOCs. Abundant OVs in ARCeO2 leads to enhanced light absorption, improved charge separation and increased reactive oxygen generation, and then promote its photothermocatalytic performance. Moreover, no obvious decrease was observed in the photothermocatalytic activity of ARCeO2 at 200 °C for 25 h reaction. Its superior photothermocatalytic stability can be attributed to the less intermediates and limited coke accumulation onto ARCeO2. This work provides a facile and cost-effective strategy for the design and fabrication of CeO2 catalyst with strong coke-resistance potential and highlights the significance of OVs engineering for improving the photothermocatalytic performance of VOCs degradation.