Photoreduction-Induced Strong Metal–Support Interaction Enables Low-Pt Catalysts for Volatile Organic Compound Abatement

Developing low-noble-metal, high-efficiency catalysts for volatile organic compound combustion is a pressing challenge. Herein, a Pt/InBO₃ catalyst was fabricated via a photoreduction strategy for toluene combustion. Sol-gel-synthesized InBO₃ (InBO₃-SG) exhibits superior surface properties, including abundant oxygen vacancies, stronger Lewis acidity, and lower basicity. Photoreduction enables the in situ formation of ∼2 nm Pt nanoparticles with a high proportion of metallic Pt⁰ (∼88%) directly on the support surface, which induces an exceptional Pt utilization efficiency. Unlike conventional high-temperature reducing treatments, strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) can be realized under mild conditions, avoiding some unfavored side-effects. Mechanistically, Pt⁰ activates O₂ to generate reactive oxygen species, while InBO₃-SG promotes substrate adsorption, oxygen species migration, and product desorption. This system integrates a functional support and oxygen-activating metal species through SMSI, ensuring efficient toluene combustion. The optimized catalyst achieves a T₉₀ of 227 °C and an average TOF_Pt of 6.54 × 10^-2 s^-1 with ultralow Pt loading (0.2 wt %). Notably, T₉₀ can be further reduced to 151 °C by tuning the catalytic conditions. Systematic comparison reveals an inherent trade-off between T₉₀ and TOF_Pt, highlighting the need for balanced design. Though based on a newly constructed system, the catalyst delivers performance comparable to or exceeding that of state-of-the-art Pt systems, especially regarding Pt utilization efficiency.