Efficient Catalytic Oxidation of Ethylene at 0 °C on an in Situ Carbon Modified Pt Catalyst Supported on SBA-15

The design of efficient catalysts for catalytic ethylene (C₂H₄) oxidation is of crucial importance for extending the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. Herein, a carbon modified SBA-15 supported Pt catalyst (Pt/CSBA-15) was prepared in situ by a facile solid phase grinding-infiltration-inert atmosphere calcination method. Characterization results reveal that in the Pt/CSBA-15 catalysts thin carbon layers are successfully formed in the hexagonal pores of SBA-15. Additionally, Pt particles are well dispersed in the channels of SBA-15, and Pt/CSBA-15 has a smaller Pt particle size than the catalyst without carbon modification (i.e., Pt/SBA-15). O₂ is more feasibly adsorbed and activated on small-sized Pt particles, and in situ formed carbon species enhance the hydrophobicity of catalysts. As a result, both 3Pt/CSBA-15 and 5Pt/CSBA-15 are able to maintain 100% conversion of 50 ppm of C₂H₄ for more than 7 h at 0 °C. 3Pt/CSBA-15 even achieves 81.5% C₂H₄ conversion and 71.6% CO₂ yield after 20 h, exhibiting much more prominent catalytic performances than 3Pt/SBA-15. DFT calculations and in situ FTIR measurements confirm that small-sized Pt particles possess strong O₂ affinity to promote O₂ adsorption, and in situ formed hydrophobic carbon layers efficiently suppress competitive H₂O adsorption. Such a unique one-step catalyst preparation method for regulating the size of metal particles and the hydrophobicity of catalysts can be perfectly utilized to develop simple and efficient hydrophobic catalysts applied in low-temperature oxidation of C₂H₄.