Enhancing Oxygen Activation Ability by Composite Interface Construction over a 2D Co<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>-Based Monolithic Catalyst for Toluene Oxidation
Rong Li, Yu Huang, Yimai Zhu, Ming-Zhi Guo, Wei Peng, Yizhou Zhi, Liqin Wang, Junji Cao, Shuncheng Lee
Abstract
Developing robust metal-based monolithic catalysts with efficient oxygen activation capacity is crucial for thermal catalytic treatment of volatile organic compound (VOC) pollution. Two-dimensional (2D) metal oxides are alternative thermal catalysts, but their traditional loading strategies on carriers still face challenges in practical applications. Herein, we propose a novel in situ molten salt-loading strategy that synchronously enables the construction of 2D Co 3 O 4 and its growth on Fe foam for the first time to yield a unique monolithic catalyst named Co 3 O 4 /Fe–S. Compared to the Co 3 O 4 nanocube-loaded Fe foam, Co 3 O 4 /Fe–S exhibits a significantly improved catalytic performance with a temperature reduction of 44 °C at 90% toluene conversion. Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and theoretical calculation suggest that Co 3 O 4 /Fe–S possesses abundant 2D Co 3 O 4 /Fe 3 O 4 composite interfaces, which promote the construction of active sites (oxygen vacancy and Co 3+ ) to boost oxygen activation and toluene chemisorption, thereby accelerating the transformation of reaction intermediates through Langmuir–Hinshelwood (L-H) and Mars–van Krevelen (MvK) mechanisms. Moreover, the growth mechanism reveals that 2D Co 3 O 4 /Fe 3 O 4 composite interfaces are generated in situ in molten salt, inducing the growth of 2D Co 3 O 4 onto the surface lattice of 2D Fe 3 O 4 . This study provides new insights into enhancing oxygen activation and opens an unprecedented avenue in preparing efficient monolithic catalysts for VOC oxidation.