Deciphering nanoconfinement effects on molecular orientation and reaction intermediate by single molecule imaging

Bin Dong, Yuchen Pei, Nourhan Mansour, Xuemei Lu, Kai Yang, Wenyu Huang () and Ning Fang ()
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Bin Dong: Georgia State University
Yuchen Pei: Iowa State University, and Ames Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy
Nourhan Mansour: Georgia State University
Xuemei Lu: Soochow University
Kai Yang: Soochow University
Wenyu Huang: Iowa State University, and Ames Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy
Ning Fang: Georgia State University

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Nanoconfinement could dramatically change molecular transport and reaction kinetics in heterogeneous catalysis. Here we specifically design a core-shell nanocatalyst with aligned linear nanopores for single-molecule studies of the nanoconfinement effects. The quantitative single-molecule measurements reveal unusual lower adsorption strength and higher catalytic activity on the confined metal reaction centres within the nanoporous structure. More surprisingly, the nanoconfinement effects on enhanced catalytic activity are larger for catalysts with longer and narrower nanopores. Experimental evidences, including molecular orientation, activation energy, and intermediate reactive species, have been gathered to provide a molecular level explanation on how the nanoconfinement effects enhance the catalyst activity, which is essential for the rational design of highly-efficient catalysts.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12799-x

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