Interfacial dependent reactive oxygen species generation over Pt-ZrO2 nanoparticles for catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde at room temperature

Producing the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) interface and highly reactive oxygen species is a great challenge for catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde (HCHO) at room temperature over supported metal catalysts. Herein, we report a conceptual oxygen vacancy ( V O ) associated SMSI interface of Pt-ZrO 2 nanoparticles for HCHO catalysis at room temperature, exhibiting interfacial dependent reactive oxygen species (O*) formation. The V O on the ZrO 2 support captures and activates the molecular O 2 , then proceeds to generating the reactive oxygen atom (O*) with a lower activation barrier of 0.3 eV. The generated O* tends to link the (1   1   0) surface of ZrO 2 and the (1   1   1) surface of Pt as an electronic transmission channel for the selective catalytic oxidation of HCHO adsorbed on the (1   1   0) surface of ZrO 2 , accelerating the direct generation of formate species and mineralization of HCHO. The Pt- V O -ZrO 2 achieves high HCHO removal and HCHO conversion (>95%) at 20 °C. These findings will consolidate the fundamental theories of room temperature catalytic reactions via constructing the SMSI interface engineering for wide environmental applications.