Nanodendritic Platinum Supported on γ-Alumina for Complete Benzene Oxidation

The morphology of the platinum (Pt) nanoparticles has a significant effect on their activity for the catalytic oxidation of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this work, the preparation of the dendritic and spherical Pt by a solution-based approach is reported, which is supported on γ - Al 2 O 3 substrates, for decreasing the temperature of the complete conversion of benzene, one of the representative contaminants among the VOCs because of its carcinogenicity. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses reveal that the surface adsorbed oxygen is crucial for catalytic performance, and the electron transference from Pt to O is a benefit for the activation of oxygen. H 2 -TPR results indicate that the reducibility of the catalyst has a significant effect on the catalytic activity for the catalytic oxidation. In general, the dendritic Pt/Al 2 O 3 catalysts, which possess more abundant and active surface adsorbed oxygen, exhibit the higher activity for the complete catalytic conversion of benzene compared with the spherical one. Moreover, the addition of a small amount of Ag (or Au), which is in order to ensure the dendritic structure, has little influence on the catalytic activity. The versatile solution-based synthesis will be a promising method for creating the highly efficient catalysts for environmental remediation.