Refining Metal–Support Interactions via Surface Modification of Irreducible Oxide Support for Enhanced Complete Propane Oxidation

Abstract

Regulating the metal−support interaction (MSI) of supported metal catalysts is critical to enhancing their catalytic performance. However, achieving direct control over the MSI by tuning the properties of irreducible oxide-supported supports remains a challenging task. In this study, we propose a surface modification strategy to refine the MSI on an irreducible MgAl 2 O 4supported Pt catalyst. By employing a facile H 2 O 2 treatment to modify the support surface, the number of Brønsted acid sites on MgAl 2 O 4 was successfully reduced. The MSI between Pt and MgAl 2 O 4 is appropriately weakened, resulting in a higher proportion of metallic Pt species, while maintaining a high level of dispersion during the reaction. These metallic Pt species enhance the activation ability of C−H bonds in propane and facilitate the rapid consumption of intermediate species. Consequently, the complete propane oxidation reaction performance of H 2 O 2 -treated Pt/MgAl 2 O 4 is significantly promoted, exhibiting an impressive increase in intrinsic activity of over 32-fold compared to traditional Pt/MgAl 2 O 4 .