In Situ Grown Monolithic Au/TiO2 Catalysts on Flexible Ti Mesh for Efficient Low‐Temperature CO Oxidation

Abstract

AbstractThe development of advanced catalyst integration strategy is of great importance and promising for long‐term and stable gas catalysis in environmental processing. However, conventional catalyst fabrication techniques including spray method and spin coating cannot overcome the key problems of catalyst peeling off from substrate and related severe performance degradation. In this work, an in situ integration strategy of monolithic Au/TiO2 catalysts on Ti mesh for efficient and stable low‐temperature CO oxidation is reported. Plasma electrolytic oxidation technology can create a porous TiO2 seeding layer with strong substrate adherence. Subsequent hydrothermal reaction, ion exchange, and calcination processes can induce the in situ nucleation of sodium titanate nanosheets and their follow‐up conversion to TiO2 nanosheets with huge surface area. The oxygen defects generated in anatase TiO2 nanosheet supports can not only provide sufficient anchoring sites for the deposition and attachment of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) during deposition–precipitation process, but also absorb and activate oxygen species. Meanwhile, the strong interactions between Au NPs and TiO2 support make the catalysts more chemically active. As a result, the Au/TiO2 monolithic catalysts can eliminate CO completely at low temperature and exhibit considerably high stability, suggesting their potential in practical applications.