Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2026, Vol. 83: 400-410.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(26)64951-0

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Engineering isolated Al2O3 island enables adjacent TiO2-supported Ir@Pt nanoparticles for efficient and sulfur-resistant lean methane oxidation

Jinwei Wu, Junfei Chen, Mingkang Zhang, Zebao Rui()   

  1. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Platform Chemicals from Marine Biomass and their Functionalization, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, Guangdong, China
  • Received:2025-08-11 Accepted:2025-10-27 Online:2026-04-05 Published:2026-03-04
  • Contact: Zebao Rui
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(22476222);R&D projects in key areas of Guangdong Province(2020B1111360004);Natural Science Funds of Guangdong for Distinguished Young Scholar(2022B1515020098)

Abstract:

Sulfur-induced catalyst deactivation has been a challenge in the design of gaseous pollutants purified catalyst. As the mainstream strategy for anti-sulfur catalyst design, the incorporation of sacrificial components into the catalyst bulk still faces issues such as increased cost and rapid activity decline. Herein, the physical isolated island strategy is proposed to improve the sulfur resistance and cost-effectiveness of a lean methane oxidation catalyst at no cost of its high activity. The isolated Al2O3 island suppresses the formation of sulfates on adjacent Ir@Pt nanoparticles and avoids the sulfation of Ir@Pt/TiO2. Meanwhile, the isolated Al2O3 island draws little effect on the chemical states of active sites. The sulfur adsorption function of isolated Al2O3 island and high activity of Ir@Pt/TiO2 are synergistically combined, leading to both remarkably high CH4 oxidation activity (TOF = 1.2 s‒1 at 350 °C) and high sulfur resistance without observable activity loss during 50 h on-stream test under 50 ppm SO2 and a space velocity of 30000 mL g‒1 h‒1. Such isolated-island strategy provides a meaningful reference for the efficient sulfur resistance catalyst design.

Key words: Sulfur resistance, Catalytic methane oxidation, Isolated island, Support-metal interaction, Alumina