Unraveling the integrated adsorption catalytic mechanism of Pt/PBO-ACF catalysts for toluene: Enhancing the catalytic performance by regulating the pore structure of support

Adsorption-catalytic oxidation strategy has great significance but challenge for high-efficient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) consumption in confined spaces (e.g. warships). In this work, we prepared a platinum (Pt) nanoparticles based composite catalyst (Pt/PBO-ACF) supported by the poly-p-phenylene benzobisoxazole (PBO)-based activated carbon fiber (ACF-KC) with supercharged performance in catalytic oxidation of toluene. ACF-KC with a defect-engineered hierarchical porous architecture (S_BET: 2405 m²/g) serves as an ultra-efficient adsorbent for toluene (adsorption capacity: 555.95 mg/g) and the support for the uniform dispersion of Pt (5.66 %). Remarkably, the 0.4Pt/PBO-ACF catalyst exhibited a low T₉₀ at 156℃ and long-term stability and recyclability through the integrated adsorption-catalytic process. Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectrometry (DRIFTS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations further revealed a dual-reaction mechanisms (Langmuir-Hinshelwood and Mars-Van Krevelen) behind them. The design of the 0.4Pt/PBO-ACF composite catalyst, integrating the adsorption-catalytic mechanisms, holds remarkable potential for the efficient VOCs conversion in confined environments.