Controllable synthesis of magic cube-like Ce-MOF-derived Pt/CeO 2 catalysts for formaldehyde oxidation.

Controllable synthesis of MOFs with desired structures is of great significance to deepen the understanding of the crystal nucleation-growth mechanism and deliver unique structural features to their derived metal oxides with target catalytic applications. In this study, NH 2 -Ce-BDC with morphology similar to a second-order magic cube (mc) is facile synthesized via H + mediation in nucleation and growth stages. The pertinent variables that can greatly influence the formation of magic cube-like structures (MCS) were investigated, in which the concentric diffusion field was found to be one of the key factors. Upon calcination, the derived CeO 2 inherits unique gullies and grooves located on the pristine MOFs surface, which is quite useful for atomic layer deposition (ALD) of platinum (Pt) nanoparticles because of strong interaction with MOF-derived CeO 2 (mc-CeO 2 ). XPS, H 2 -TPR, Raman, and in situ DRIFTS characterization results show that there is a stronger interaction between Pt and mc-CeO 2 in mc-Pt/CeO 2 compared with c-Pt/CeO 2 that is derived from the well-developed cubic Ce-MOFs. Furthermore, Pt 2+ ions, hydroxyl oxygen, and oxygen defects in mc-Pt/CeO 2 account highly for exemplary catalytic activity toward HCHO oxidation.