Acid Sites Cleavage of Surface-Frustrated Lewis Pairs for Small-Molecule Activation of Mixed Volatile Pollutants
Bangfu Chen, Youyu Duan, Haifeng Gong, Ziran Du, Shuangjun Li, Yuhan Li, Qing Wang, Ziying Ye, Dieqing Zhang
Abstract
Exploring a new catalytic system to achieve the efficient photocatalytic oxidation of mixed volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is imperative. In this study, an in situ-designed surface-frustrated Lewis pair (SFLPs), coupled with the cleavage of the Lewis acid sites (LAs), effectively activated and mineralized a mixture of toluene (C 7 H 8 ) and acetone (C 3 H 6 O). The precise functionalization facilitated by cleaved LAs achieves targeted activation of C–C bonds in C 7 H 8 and central phenyl methyl intermediates, as well as the carbonyl group (C═O) in C 3 H 6 O, via electron cloud polarization and orbital interactions. Therefore, under illumination, ZHS-H exhibits an impressive average decomposition efficiency of 96.78% for a mixture of C 7 H 8 and C 3 H 6 O (50:20 ppm). This study demonstrates the feasibility of activating bond cleavage of mixed VOCs through the synergistic effects of acid–base chemical interactions (“push–pull” effect), offering novel insights for the cleaved design and precise control of acid–base sites to achieve highly selective activation and conversion of complex, multicomponent pollutants.