Engineering Active Interfaces on the Surface of Porous Single-Crystalline TiO2 Monoliths for Enhanced Catalytic Activity and Stability

Huang Lin; Cong Luo; Fangyuan Cheng; Kui Xie

doi:10.34133/research.0579

Engineering Active Interfaces on the Surface of Porous Single-Crystalline TiO₂ Monoliths for Enhanced Catalytic Activity and Stability

Research (Wash D C). 2025 Jan 14:8:0579. doi: 10.34133/research.0579. eCollection 2025.

Authors

Huang Lin^{1

2

3

4}, Cong Luo^{1

2

4}, Fangyuan Cheng^{1

2

3

4}, Kui Xie^{1

2

3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Design & Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China.
² Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China, Fuzhou, Fujian 350108, China.
³ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁴ Fujian College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian 350108, China.
⁵ School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.

Abstract

The engineering design and construction of active interfaces represents a promising approach amidst numerous initiatives aimed at augmenting catalytic activity. Herein, we present a novel approach to incorporate interconnected pores within bulk single crystals for the synthesis of macroscopic porous single-crystalline rutile titanium oxide (R-TiO₂). The porous single crystal (PSC) R-TiO₂ couples a nanocrystalline framework as the solid phase with pores as the fluid phase within its structure, providing unique advantages in localized structure construction and in the field of catalysis. We successfully construct well-defined Ni cluster/TiO₂ active interfaces by directly confining Ni clusters on the continuous lattice surface of PSC R-TiO₂. We confirm that the lattice oxygen connected to the Ni clusters exhibits exceptional activation capability at temperatures close to room temperature compared to the pure phase PSC R-TiO₂ monoliths. The PSC Ni/TiO₂ catalyst demonstrates complete CO oxidation and stable catalytic performance during continuous operation in air at ~80 °C for 200 h.