Formaldehyde (HCHO) is a hazardous pollutant in indoor
space for
humans because of its carcinogenicity. Removing the pollutant by MnO2-based catalysts is of great interest because of their high
oxidation performance at room temperature. In this work, we regulate
the Pt–MnO2 (MnO2 = manganese oxide)
interaction and interface by embedding Pt in MnO2 (Pt-in-MnO2) and by dispersing Pt on MnO2 (Pt-on-MnO2) for HCHO oxidation over Pt–MnO2 catalysts with
trace Pt loading of 0.01 wt %. In comparison to the Pt-in-MnO2 catalyst, the Pt-on-MnO2 catalyst has a higher
Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area, a more active lattice
oxygen, more oxygen vacancy activating more dioxygen molecules, more
exposed Pt atoms, and noninternal diffusion of mass transfer, which
contribute to the higher HCHO oxidation performance. The HCHO oxidation
performance is stable over the Pt–MnO2 catalysts
under high space velocity and high moisture humidity conditions, showing
great potential for practical applications. This work demonstrates
a more effective Pt-dispersed MnO2 catalyst than Pt-embedded
MnO2 catalyst for HCHO oxidation, providing universally
important guidance for metal–support interaction and interface
regulation for oxidation reactions.