Dynamic co-catalysis of Au single atoms and nanoporous Au for methane pyrolysis

Wei Xi, Kai Wang, Yongli Shen, Mengke Ge, Ziliang Deng, Yunfeng Zhao, Qiue Cao, Yi Ding (), Guangzhi Hu () and Jun Luo ()
Additional contact information
Wei Xi: Tianjin University of Technology
Kai Wang: Tianjin University of Technology
Yongli Shen: Tianjin University of Technology
Mengke Ge: Tianjin University of Technology
Ziliang Deng: Tianjin University of Technology
Yunfeng Zhao: Tianjin University of Technology
Qiue Cao: Yunnan University
Yi Ding: Tianjin University of Technology
Guangzhi Hu: Yunnan University
Jun Luo: Tianjin University of Technology

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Nanocatalysts and single-atom catalysts are both vital for heterogeneous catalysis. They are recognized as two different categories of catalysts. Nevertheless, recent theoretical works have indicated that Au nanoparticles/clusters release Au single atoms in CO oxidation, and they co-catalyze the oxidation. However, to date, neither experimental evidence for the co-catalysis nor direct observations on any heterogeneous catalysis process of single-atom catalysts are reported. Here, the dynamic process of nanoporous Au to catalyze methane pyrolysis is monitored by in situ transmission electron microscopy with high spatial–temporal resolutions. It demonstrates that nanoporous Au surfaces partially disintegrate, releasing Au single atoms. As demonstrated by DFT calculation, the single atoms could co-catalyze the reaction with nanoporous Au. Moreover, the single atoms dynamically aggregate into nanoparticles, which re-disintegrate back to single atoms. This work manifests that under certain conditions, the heterogeneous catalysis processes of nanocatalysts and single-atom catalysts are not independent, where their dynamic co-catalysis exists.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15806-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-15806-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15806-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().