Recently, Professor Luo Meng Fei’s team published a paper on titled "Boosting propane combustion over Pt/WO3 catalyst by activating interface oxygen species".( Applied Surface Science on 27 December 2023,see more at Research Progress).
Straight- and short-chain alkanes (CnH2n+2,n≥2) VOCs are widely present in the petrochemical industry, and they are the most thermodynamically stable and difficult to eliminate substances in VOCs. At present, precious metal catalysts are mainly applied in the oxidation of alkane VOC. However, due to the high cost of precious metals, it is urgent to develop low-cost & high-performance catalysts for the oxidation of alkane VOCs.
Professor Luo’s team has adopted a strategy of nitrogen heat treatment to activate oxygen at the interface between precious metal Pt and WO3, significantly improving the complete propane oxidation performance of Pt/WO3 catalysts. The T95 of Pt/WO3-N2-400 catalyst (treated with nitrogen at 400℃) was only 250℃ , while the initial Pt/WO3 catalyst had a T95 of up to 350℃ Based on the in-situ mass spectrometry of heat treated Pt/WO3 catalyst and the results of oxygen free C3H8-TPSR on the catalyst surface, it was found that nitrogen heat treatment of Pt/WO3 catalyst can generate highly active interfacial oxygen species (Pt-O-W), and the generation of active oxygen species is related to the removal of tungsten hydroxyl groups in close contact with Pt species. This research result provides important theoretical references for the development of high-performance catalysts for the oxidation of alkane VOCs
