Complete oxidation of formaldehyde at ambient temperature over γ-Al2O3 supported Au catalyst

•Au/γ-Al2O3 catalyst shows superior HCHO oxidation activity at room temperature.•Surface hydroxyl groups played a key role in the catalytic oxidation of HCHO.•Complete oxidation of HCHO was firstly reported over γ-Al2O3 supported Au catalyst.

Au supported on γ-Al2O3 prepared by deposition–precipitation (DP) using urea is found to be a highly active catalyst for the total oxidation of HCHO at room temperature under humid air, without the need for a reducible oxide as support. In-situ DRIFTS studies suggested that the surface hydroxyl groups played a key role in the partial oxidation of HCHO into the formate intermediates, which can be further oxidized into CO2 and H2O with participation of nano-Au. This study challenges the traditional idea of supporting noble metals on reducible oxides for HCHO oxidation at room temperature.

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