The elimination of toluene is an obligatory target with
increasing
VOC emission in recent years. This study successfully prepared a single-atom
Ir catalyst (Ir1/CeO2) by a simple incipient
wetness impregnation method, confirmed by in situ CO DRIFTS and AC-HAADF-STEM.
Compared to the cluster Ir catalyst (Ir/CeO2-C), Ir1/CeO2 exhibited excellent catalytic performance,
stability, and water resistance for the oxidation of toluene. By Raman,
H2-TPR, O2-TPD, and XPS experiments, abundant
oxygen defects and a unique Ir3+–Ov–Ce3+ structure were formed for the Ir1/CeO2 sample because it had a lower oxygen vacancy formation energy. Furthermore,
the DFT results revealed that the Ir1/CeO2 sample
had a lower ring-opening energy barrier and adsorption energy of the
ring-opening products, which was the rate-determining step for the
oxidation of toluene. This work provides instructive insights into
the construction of Ir/CeO2 catalysts for the highly efficient
removal of VOCs.