Sintering-Resistant Single-Site Nickel Catalyst Supported by Metal-Organic Framework

Area of Science:

• Heterogeneous Catalysis
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Supported single-site catalysts are crucial for understanding reaction mechanisms and designing better catalysts.
• Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offer tunable structures for catalyst support.
• Precise control over active site deposition is challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for uniformly installing high-density nickel (Ni) ions onto a zirconium-based MOF (NU-1000).
• To demonstrate the catalytic activity and stability of the resulting single-site Ni catalyst (Ni-AIM).
• To explore the potential of this method for other catalytic transformations.

Main Methods:

• Atomic Layer Deposition in a MOF (AIM) technique was employed to deposit Ni ions onto NU-1000 nodes.
• Catalytic performance was evaluated for gas-phase hydrogenation and ethylene oligomerization.
• Quantum chemical calculations were used to characterize the catalyst structure and reaction mechanisms.

Main Results:

• Uniform and high-density installation of Ni ions (Ni-AIM) was achieved on the MOF support.
• Ni-AIM demonstrated high efficiency as a gas-phase hydrogenation catalyst.
• The single-site nature and long-term stability of Ni-AIM were confirmed, with isolated Ni ions preventing aggregation.
• Computational modeling validated experimental findings and guided catalyst design for ethylene oligomerization.

Conclusions:

• The AIM methodology enables the creation of well-defined, single-site supported catalysts with high stability.
• Ni-AIM is a promising catalyst for hydrogenation and ethylene oligomerization.
• This approach offers a general strategy for developing novel catalysts for volatile substrate transformations.