Sub-Nano Pt/β-FeOOH Quantum Dots for Photocatalytic Removal of Toluene: Catalyst Design, Preparation, and Benefits

Photocatalytic removal of organic pollutants under solar irradiation at room temperature is considered an energy-saving technique of environmental remediation. However, photocatalysis is impeded by the poor response to visible light and fast charge recombination. In this work, sub-nano Pt/β-FeOOH quantum dots (QDs) were designed to shorten the charge migration path and obtain wide light harvesting. Interestingly, the crystalline β-FeOOH QDs can be obtained by loading sub-nano Pt particles via a reconstruction mechanism of amorphous FeOOH induced by H2 spillover, which facilitates the fast kinetics of charge transition and benefits the oxygen-rich surface of the catalyst for photocatalytic oxidation reactions. Moreover, the Pt-VO-Fe interfaces were proved to be the most active sites for the activation of O2. As a result, the catalyst exhibits a predominant photocatalytic performance in toluene oxidation, achieving a TOFPt of 0.591 min−1 at room temperature under visible light irradiation. This work provides a new perspective on the design and preparation of nanocatalysts for high-efficient photocatalysis under visible light irradiation.