Pt@TiOx/TiO2 as a highly effective and stable recipe for C3H8 and C3H6 combustion

Sintering is among the most challenging obstacles preventing the development of platinum catalysts that highly effective for hydrocarbon combustion at low temperatures. To overcome this obstacle, a Pt@TiO 2 catalyst with platinum nanoparticles encapsulated by TiO x overlayers was synthesized in this article, via melamine-mediated calcinations at 800 °C in air. Being physically constrained (“protected”) and electronically buffered (“Pt x + /Pt 0  ↔ Ti 3+ /Ti 4+ ”) by the thermally stable TiO x , this catalyst preserved a large amount of reactive metallic Pt 0 sites, which therefore exhibited obviously higher activity for C 3 H 8 and C 3 H 6 combustion in comparison with conventional supported Pt/TiO 2 catalysts. Moreover, steam and SO 2 in the reaction atmospheres caused reversible influences on the catalytic performance of this sample, indicating the high practical potential of such a recipe for the design of platinum catalysts with superior activity and durability for hydrocarbon combustion.