Cu3Pt1 alloys confined by penta-coordinate Al3+ on Al2O3 realize CO oxidation at room temperature

CO is a ubiquitous air pollutant, frequently encountered in the fields of automotive exhaust purification, especial in the cold-start-emission stage. Pt based catalysts are widely used to purify CO into CO 2 owing to their exceptional performance. But they can be few excited to exhibit reasonable catalytic activity due to the low temperature at the cold-start-emission stage. In exhaust gas purification catalysts used by fossil fuel-based vehicles, Al 2 O 3 is used frequently. But there are rarely reports of Pt loaded Al 2 O 3 catalysts achieving feasible activity of CO oxidation at room temperature. Herein, we prepared Cu x Pt y alloy/Al 2 O 3 catalysts (with high penta-coordinated Al 3+ (Al V )), Al V centers as binding sites for Cu 3 Pt 1 alloys on Al 2 O 3 enable the high dispersion and stability of Cu 3 Pt 1 alloy. The adsorption capacity of O 2 and CO molecules on Cu 3 Pt 1 surface are stronger than the case on Pt surface, which may make O 2 and CO molecules more easily activated, making the CO oxidation reaction easier. In addition, the desorption of CO 2 from Cu x Pt y surface is easier compared to that on Pt surface, increasing the frequency of use of active sites there. Therefore, this Cu 3 Pt 1 /Al 2 O 3 catalyst exhibits 100 % conversion of CO with a GHSV of 6×10 3 mL·g −1 cat ·h −1 at room temperature. This work provides a feasible guideline for the design and synthesis of Pt loaded Al 2 O 3 catalysts toward room temperature CO oxidation.