A Photo-Reduction Method for Enhancing Catalytic Activity of Pt-Loaded Ordered Mesoporous TiO₂ Film Catalyst in Methanol Combustion at Low Temperature

A Pt-loaded ordered mesoporous TiO₂ thin film with anatase phase was fabricated for catalytic combustion of gaseous methanol at low temperature. The introduced Pt ions were reduced via a simple photo-reduction (PR) method. Two alternative post-reduction approaches, namely Ar plasma reduction (AR) and methanol reduction at high temperature (MR), were also adopted for comparison. The differently synthesized thin film catalysts were characterized by EDS, XRD, TEM, N₂ adsorption–desorption, XPS and GC techniques. It was found that the catalyst reduced by PR exhibited an excellent catalytic activity for methanol combustion. The catalytic conversion efficiency reached up to 98% at 150 °C (Feed gas: 10.0% methanol in air (v/v); Flow rate: 3 ml/min), which was 22% and 30% higher than that of the catalysts reduced by AR way and MR way, respectively. Moreover, the reasons underling the activity differences were discussed.