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Published on: July 12, 2016
Enzyme-Mimetic Molecular Selective Catalysis via Single Zr Atom Catalysis in Chelated Cage Embedded in a Flexible
Chao Liu1, Zhensheng Chen1, Kaixuan Teng1
1Beijing Key Laboratory of Materials Utilization of Nonmetallic Minerals and Solid Wastes, National Laboratory of Mineral Materials, School of Materials Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, Beijing, 100083, P. R. China.
Abstract:
The molecularly selective catalysis in enzyme is central to life. However, their functioning mechanism remains elusive. We propose here that the synergistic effects from (i) effective orbital hybridizing and energy gap decreasing via chelating on single Zr atom as the catalytic center, (ii) selective supramolecular encapsulation in the cage, and (iii) piezoelectrical field motivation are able to achieve the enzyme-mimetic molecular selective high performance catalysis. Metal-organic polyhedra (MOPs) are added into a piezoelectrical polymer matrix to achieve the composite structure where ultrasonic treatment motivates redox reactions in the MOP-guest complex. Encapsulated and chelated guest such as Rhodamine B (RhB) is effectively converted with ratios higher than 90 % after 100 min. In comparison, molecules inefficient in either cage encapsulation or chelating with the Zr center can not be converted. This study first proposes a synergistic plot for enzyme-mimetic catalyst realization and is expected to inspire new mentality in efficient catalyst designing.
