Highly stable preferential carbon monoxide oxidation by dinuclear heterogeneous catalysts

Area of Science:

• Catalysis
• Materials Science
• Surface Chemistry

Background:

• Atomically dispersed catalysts show promise for preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide (PROX) in hydrogen-rich environments.
• A key challenge for these catalysts is their limited stability, hindering practical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the stability of atomically dispersed catalysts for PROX reactions.
• To investigate the role of structural components in catalyst stability and activity.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an Iridium (Ir) dinuclear heterogeneous catalyst (DHC) as a model system.
• Investigated the influence of a structural component designed to limit active metal center diffusion.
• Analyzed the nature of oxygen species involved in the catalytic process.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated that incorporating a structural component significantly improves catalyst stability.
• Showed that enhanced stability is achieved without compromising catalytic activity for PROX.
• Identified two crucial oxygen species (interfacial and bridge) that contribute to both activity and stability.

Conclusions:

• Structural modifications can overcome stability limitations in atomically dispersed catalysts.
• Synergistic interactions between the active metal and the support are critical for performance.
• This approach holds potential for broad applications of stable and active atomically dispersed catalysts.