Single-atom Pt-CeO2/Co3O4 catalyst with ultra-low Pt loading and high performance for toluene removal

A novel single-atom Pt-CeO2/Co3O4 catalyst with ultra-low Pt loading capacity (0.06 wt%) was fabricated. The sample presents better catalytic activity, stability and water resistance than the Pt nanoparticle supported catalysts. The excellent properties are attributed to the stronger metal-support interaction (SMSI) between single-atomic Pt and the support, which induces more Pt0, Ce3+ and Co3+ species to participate in the deep oxidation of toluene. [Display omitted] •Single-atom Pt-CeO2/Co3O4 catalyst with ultra-low Pt loading (0.06 wt%) and excellent toluene oxidation activities (T90 = 169 °C) was fabricated.•The ultra-long durability (120 h) of the 0.06Pt-SA was superior to most noble metal single-atomic catalysts reported so far.•Enhanced metal support interaction between single atomic Pt and CeO2-Co3O4 carrier induced more Pt0, Ce3+ for oxygen activation and more Co3+ for toluene activation. The design and manufacture of high activity and thermal stability catalysts with minimal precious metal loading is essential for deep degradation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this paper, a novel single-atom Pt-CeO2/Co3O4 catalyst with ultra-low Pt loading capacity (0.06 wt%, denoted as 0.06Pt-SA) was fabricated via one-step co-precipitation method. The 0.06Pt-SA exhibited excellent toluene degradation activity of T90 = 169 °C, matched with the nanoparticle Pt-supported CeO2/Co3O4 catalyst with more than six times higher Pt loading (0.41 wt%, denoted as 0.41Pt-NP). Moreover, the ultra-long durability (toluene conversion remains 99% after 120 h stability test) and excellent toluene degradation ability in a wide space speed range of 0.06Pt-SA were superior to that of 0.41Pt-NP catalyst. The excellent performance was derived from the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) between the single atomic Pt and the carrier, which induced more Pt0 and Ce3+ for oxygen activation and more Co3+ for toluene removal. The in situdiffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS) experiments confirmed that the conversion of intermediates was accelerated in the reaction process, thereby promoting the toluene degradation. Our results should inspire the exploitation of noble single-atomic modification strategy for developing the low cost and high performance VOCs catalyst.