Homogeneously Distributed Heterostructure Energizes and Replenishes Oxygen Species for Boosting Toluene Oxidation on Perovskite Oxide Catalysts

Abstract

Enriching oxygen species in perovskite catalysts provides more active sites for the catalytic oxidation of air pollutants, but its further application in environmental chemical engineering is still constrained by the inherent lack of oxygen species reactivity and the difficulty of replenishing depleted oxygen species. Herein, we present a scalable one-pot strategy for the in situ fabrication of a homogeneously distributed heterostructure, which brings La₂CuO₄ perovskite a 58-fold activity enhancement and robust antisintering/water/coke in toluene oxidation, higher than currently reported perovskite catalysts. Superior to the single “oxygen enrichment” effect of conventional surface-aggregated heterostructures, the homogeneously distributed heterostructures induce the reactivity enhancement of adsorbed oxygen and the backfilling/replenishment of depleted lattice oxygen, which break through the rate-determining steps of the low-temperature Langmuir–Hinshelwood and the high-temperature Mars–van Krevelen mechanisms, respectively. The scalability has been demonstrated in broader perovskite systems and for oxygen evolution reaction, offering a more dependable oxygen supply for environmental catalysis.