The interfacial oxygen-defective sites of oxide-supported
metal
catalysts are generally regarded as active centers in diverse redox
reactions. Identification of their structure-property relationship
at the atomic scale is of great importance but challenging. Herein,
a series of La3+-doped three-dimensionally ordered macroporous
CeO2 (3D-Ce1–x
La
x
O2−δ) were synthesized
and applied as supports for Pt nanoparticles. The pieces of evidence
from a suite of in-situ/ex-situ characterizations and theoretical
calculations revealed that the La3+-mono-substituted La-□(-Ce)2 sites (where □ represents an oxygen vacancy) exhibited
superior charge transfer ability, behaving as trapping centers for
Pt nanoparticles. The resulting interfacial Ptδ+/La-□(-Ce)2 sites served as the reversible active species in the aerobic
oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to boost catalytic performance
by simultaneously promoting oxygen activated capacity and the cleavage
of O–H/C–H bonds of adsorbed hydroxymethyl groups. Consequently,
the Pt/3D-Ce0.9La0.1O2−δ catalyst possessing the highest number of Ptδ+/La-□(-Ce)2 sites showed the best catalytic performance with 99.6% yield
to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid in 10 h. These results offer more insights
into the promoting mechanism of interfacial oxygen-defective sites
for the liquid-phase aerobic oxidation of aldehydes and alcohols.