Strong Metal-Support Interaction Induced Dual Active Sites in Pt-Co Catalysts Supported on ZIF-8-Derived Porous Carbon for Formaldehyde Oxidation

Liping Lian; Hui Xu; Yujie Tan; Yuhang Zhong; Bingyu Jian; Jianyuan Hou; Xingang Liu; Renxi Zhang

doi:10.1021/acsami.5c12075

Strong Metal-Support Interaction Induced Dual Active Sites in Pt-Co Catalysts Supported on ZIF-8-Derived Porous Carbon for Formaldehyde Oxidation

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2026 Mar 18;18(10):14832-14841. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5c12075. Epub 2026 Mar 5.

Authors

Liping Lian¹, Hui Xu¹, Yujie Tan¹, Yuhang Zhong¹, Bingyu Jian², Jianyuan Hou¹, Xingang Liu³, Renxi Zhang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention (LAP3), Institute of Environmental Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
² Shanghai Key Lab of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
³ Center of Analysis and Measurement, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Institute of Environmental Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.

PMID: 41784787
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5c12075

Abstract

A Pt-Co catalyst supported on ZIF-8-derived porous carbon (Pt-Co/Z-HP) with strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) was developed for efficient room-temperature formaldehyde (HCHO) oxidation. The catalyst exhibited highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles, abundant surface hydroxyl groups, and a defect-rich nitrogen-doped carbon matrix. These features promote Pt stabilization, oxygen activation, and intermediate conversion, achieving nearly 100% HCHO removal and CO₂ selectivity under ambient conditions. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further revealed that plasma-induced -OH species regulate the surface coverage of active hydroxyls, maintaining a balance between O₂ activation and HCHO adsorption. Moreover, comparative models of isolated Co and Pt clusters (Co_np-Pt_np-NC) and Pt-Co alloy clusters (CoPt_np-NC) demonstrate that the alloy structure achieves lower reaction barriers for both O₂ dissociation and HCHO oxidation via synergistic dual-site cooperation. These findings highlight that appropriate -OH coverage and Pt-Co electronic synergy are critical for enhancing catalytic performance. This work provides a low-energy approach for designing advanced volatile organic compounds (VOCs) oxidation catalysts via tailored SMSI.

Keywords: formaldehyde oxidation; hydroxyl groups; plasma treatment; platinum catalyst; strong metal−support interaction.