Interfacial dependent reactive oxygen species generation over Pt-ZrO₂ nanoparticles for catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde at room temperature

Producing the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) interface and highly reactive oxygen species is a great challenge for catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde (HCHO) at room temperature over supported metal catalysts. Herein, we report a conceptual oxygen vacancy (V_O) associated SMSI interface of Pt-ZrO₂ nanoparticles for HCHO catalysis at room temperature, exhibiting interfacial dependent reactive oxygen species (O*) formation. The V_O on the ZrO₂ support captures and activates the molecular O₂, then proceeds to generating the reactive oxygen atom (O*) with a lower activation barrier of 0.3 eV. The generated O* tends to link the (1 1 0) surface of ZrO₂ and the (1 1 1) surface of Pt as an electronic transmission channel for the selective catalytic oxidation of HCHO adsorbed on the (1 1 0) surface of ZrO₂, accelerating the direct generation of formate species and mineralization of HCHO. The Pt-V_O-ZrO₂ achieves high HCHO removal and HCHO conversion (>95%) at 20 °C. These findings will consolidate the fundamental theories of room temperature catalytic reactions via constructing the SMSI interface engineering for wide environmental applications.