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Title: Hydrogen Spillover Is Regulating Minority Rh1 Active Sites on TiO2 in Room-Temperature Ethylene Hydrogenation

Journal Article · · ACS Catalysis
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Univ. of Akron, OH (United States)
  2. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS); Univ. of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK (Canada). Canadian Light Source, Inc.
  3. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Institute for Integrated Catalysis

The complicated dynamics of active sites on single-atom catalysts under reducing conditions limits their applications in hydrogenation reactions and mechanistic understanding. Herein, we report that on Rh1/TiO2, *H spillover during room-temperature ethylene hydrogenation hydroxylates and reduces TiO2, enhancing the intrinsic activity of Rh1 by 9-fold. Spectroscopic and kinetic evidence suggests that the spillover of *H is suppressed by their facile reaction with C2H4, most of the spilled *H are nonreactive spectators, and >99% turnovers occur on a small subset (<20%) of exposed “active Rh1”. Steady-state kinetics indicates competitive adsorption between H and C2H4, H2 dissociation is the rate-determining step, and the apparent activation barrier (Ea,app) of the reaction is ~48 kJ/mol. The evolution of Rh1 under H2 was further tracked by spectroscopic and microscopic techniques at elevated temperatures. At 200 °C, more Rh1 are exposed, but these Rh1 are at least 5-fold less active than that of the “active Rh1”. At 300 °C, Rh clusters derived from Rh1 become the main active sites, shifting Ea,app to 62 kJ/mol, characteristic of Rh nanoparticles. At ≥400 °C, larger and more active Rh particles in the strong metal–support interaction state are created. In conclusion, this work revealed the unexpected regulation effects of *H spillover on M1 active sites under ambient conditions, differentiated the minority active M1 sites, and demonstrated how the stability of M1 under reducing atmospheres affects hydrogenation catalysis.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division (CSGB); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830; AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
2446688
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA--191971
Journal Information:
ACS Catalysis, Journal Name: ACS Catalysis Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 14; ISSN 2155-5435
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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