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Title: Breaking the scaling relationship via thermally stable Pt/Cu single atom alloys for catalytic dehydrogenation

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [4];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Tianjin Univ., Tianjin (People's Republic of China); Collaborative Innovation Center for Chemical Science & Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin (People's Republic of China)
  2. Tianjin Univ. of Technology, Tianjin (People's Republic of China)
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  4. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
  5. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Here, noble-metal alloys are widely used as heterogeneous catalysts. However, due to the existence of scaling properties of adsorption energies on transition metal surfaces, the enhancement of catalytic activity is frequently accompanied by side reactions leading to a reduction in selectivity for the target product. Herein, we describe an approach to breaking the scaling relationship for propane dehydrogenation, an industrially important reaction, by assembling single atom alloys (SAAs), to achieve simultaneous enhancement of propylene selectivity and propane conversion. We synthesize γ-alumina-supported platinum/copper SAA catalysts by incipient wetness co-impregnation method with a high copper to platinum ratio. Single platinum atoms dispersed on copper nanoparticles dramatically enhance the desorption of surface-bounded propylene and prohibit its further dehydrogenation, resulting in high propylene selectivity (~90%). Unlike previous reported SAA applications at low temperatures (<400 °C), Pt/Cu SAA shows excellent stability of more than 120 h of operation under atmospheric pressure at 520 °C.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); National Science Foundation of China; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1480621
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 9; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Water co-catalyzed selective dehydrogenation of methanol to formaldehyde and hydrogen journal August 2016
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Propylene Hydrogenation and Propane Dehydrogenation by a Single-Site Zn 2+ on Silica Catalyst journal March 2014
Supported Single Pt 1 /Au 1 Atoms for Methanol Steam Reforming journal October 2014
CO Oxidation on Supported Single Pt Atoms: Experimental and ab Initio Density Functional Studies of CO Interaction with Pt Atom on θ-Al 2 O 3 (010) Surface journal August 2013
Remarkable Performance of Ir 1 /FeO x Single-Atom Catalyst in Water Gas Shift Reaction journal October 2013
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A Common Single-Site Pt(II)–O(OH) x – Species Stabilized by Sodium on “Active” and “Inert” Supports Catalyzes the Water-Gas Shift Reaction journal March 2015
Single-Atom Pd 1 /Graphene Catalyst Achieved by Atomic Layer Deposition: Remarkable Performance in Selective Hydrogenation of 1,3-Butadiene journal August 2015
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Platinum single-atom and cluster catalysis of the hydrogen evolution reaction journal November 2016
Thermally stable single atom Pt/m-Al2O3 for selective hydrogenation and CO oxidation journal July 2017
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Propane dehydrogenation over Pt–Cu bimetallic catalysts: the nature of coke deposition and the role of copper journal January 2014
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Thermolysis of Noble Metal Nanoparticles into Electron‐Rich Phosphorus‐Coordinated Noble Metal Single Atoms at Low Temperature journal August 2019
Zeolite‐Encaged Single‐Atom Rhodium Catalysts: Highly‐Efficient Hydrogen Generation and Shape‐Selective Tandem Hydrogenation of Nitroarenes journal November 2019
Thermolysis of Noble Metal Nanoparticles into Electron‐Rich Phosphorus‐Coordinated Noble Metal Single Atoms at Low Temperature journal August 2019
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Quasi Pd1Ni single-atom surface alloy catalyst enables hydrogenation of nitriles to secondary amines journal November 2019
Platinum–copper single atom alloy catalysts with high performance towards glycerol hydrogenolysis journal December 2019
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Framework-confined Sn in Si-beta stabilizing ultra-small Pt nanoclusters as direct propane dehydrogenation catalysts with high selectivity and stability journal January 2019
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In situ immobilization of isolated Pd single-atoms on graphene by employing amino-functionalized rigid molecules and their prominent catalytic performance journal January 2020
A boron nitride nanosheet-supported Pt/Cu cluster as a high-efficiency catalyst for propane dehydrogenation journal January 2020
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