Tailoring the Electronic Metal–Support Interactions in Supported Atomically Dispersed Gold Catalysts for Efficient Fenton‐like Reaction

Abstract

The atomically dispersed metal is expected as one of the most promising Fenton-like catalysts to generate reactive oxygen-containing radicals for the degradation of recalcitrant organic pollutants (ROPs) by the strong "electronic metal-support interactions" (EMSIs). Although established atomically dispersed catalysts have been designed for the Fenton-like reactions, limited exposure of the active site to the reaction medium and instability of isolated metal single atoms on the support surfaces might result in low catalytic efficiency and prevent the realization of their full practical potential. Here, we develop an atomically dispersing metal-atoms alloy made by guest Au atoms substitute host V atoms in the two dimensional (2D) VO2 nanobelt support (Au/VO2 ) to activate Fenton-like oxidation for elimination of ROPs. The 2D nanobelt structure enlarges the exposure of atomically Au thus increasing the number of active sites to absorb more S2O82- ions. And the EMSIs regulate the charge density in Au atoms to present positive charge Au + , lowering the energy barrier of S2O82- decomposition to produce SO4•-. The Au/VO2 catalyst possesses excellent durable and reliable characteristics and exhibits record-breaking efficiency with TOF as high as 21.42 min-1, 16.19 min-1, and 80.89 min-1for rhodamine (RhB), phenol, and bisphenol A (BPA) degradation, respectively.