Heteroatom doping effect of Pt/rGO catalysts for formaldehyde abatement at ambient temperature

•The Pt/N-rGO sample with the small size of Pt nanoparticles exhibits the best catalytic activity at room temperature for HCHO catalytic purification.•The average particle size of the Pt nanoparticles was significantly reduced in the samples doping with heteroatoms.•Nitrogen-doping greatly increased the defect degree and the specific surface area of rGO.•Excellent performance is due to the high Pt dispersion and the high content of Pt0.