Functional CeOx nanoglues for robust atomically dispersed catalysts

Xu Li, Xavier Isidro Pereira-Hernández, Yizhen Chen, Jia Xu, Jiankang Zhao, Chih-Wen Pao, Chia-Yu Fang, Jie Zeng (), Yong Wang (), Bruce C. Gates () and Jingyue Liu ()
Additional contact information
Xu Li: Arizona State University
Xavier Isidro Pereira-Hernández: Washington State University
Yizhen Chen: University of California, Davis
Jia Xu: Arizona State University
Jiankang Zhao: University of Science and Technology of China
Chih-Wen Pao: National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center
Chia-Yu Fang: University of California, Davis
Jie Zeng: University of Science and Technology of China
Yong Wang: Washington State University
Bruce C. Gates: University of California, Davis
Jingyue Liu: Arizona State University

Nature, 2022, vol. 611, issue 7935, 284-288

Abstract: Abstract Single-atom catalysts1 make exceptionally efficient use of expensive noble metals and can bring out unique properties1–3. However, applications are usually compromised by limited catalyst stability, which is due to sintering3,4. Although sintering can be suppressed by anchoring the metal atoms to oxide supports1,5,6, strong metal–oxygen interactions often leave too few metal sites available for reactant binding and catalysis6,7, and when exposed to reducing conditions at sufficiently high temperatures, even oxide-anchored single-atom catalysts eventually sinter4,8,9. Here we show that the beneficial effects of anchoring can be enhanced by confining the atomically dispersed metal atoms on oxide nanoclusters or ‘nanoglues’, which themselves are dispersed and immobilized on a robust, high-surface-area support. We demonstrate the strategy by grafting isolated and defective CeOx nanoglue islands onto high-surface-area SiO2; the nanoglue islands then each host on average one Pt atom. We find that the Pt atoms remain dispersed under both oxidizing and reducing environments at high temperatures, and that the activated catalyst exhibits markedly increased activity for CO oxidation. We attribute the improved stability under reducing conditions to the support structure and the much stronger affinity of Pt atoms for CeOx than for SiO2, which ensures the Pt atoms can move but remain confined to their respective nanoglue islands. The strategy of using functional nanoglues to confine atomically dispersed metals and simultaneously enhance their reactivity is general, and we anticipate that it will take single-atom catalysts a step closer to practical applications.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05251-6 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:nature:v:611:y:2022:i:7935:d:10.1038_s41586-022-05251-6

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

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05251-6

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

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