A General Approach for Metal Nanoparticle Encapsulation Within Porous Oxides

Encapsulation of metal nanoparticles within oxide materials has been shown as an effective strategy to improve activity, selectivity, and stability in several catalytic applications. Several approaches have been proposed to encapsulate nanoparticles, such as forming core-shell structures, growing ordered structures (zeolites or metal-organic frameworks) on nanoparticles, or directly depositing support materials on nanoparticles. Here, a general nanocasting method is demonstrated that can produce diverse encapsulated metal@oxide structures with different compositions (Pt, Pd, Rh) and multiple types of oxides (Al₂O₃, Al₂O₃-CeO₂, ZrO₂, ZnZrO_x, In₂O₃, Mn₂O₃, TiO₂) while controlling the size and dispersion of nanoparticles and the porous structure of the oxide. Metal@polymer structures are first prepared, and then the oxide precursor is infiltrated into such structures and the resulting material is calcined to form the metal@oxide structures. Most Pt@oxides catalysts show similar catalytic activity, demonstrating the availability of surface Pt sites in the encapsulated structures. However, the Pt@Mn₂O₃ sample showed much higher CO oxidation activity, while also being stable under aging conditions. This work demonstrated a robust nanocasting method to synthesize metal@oxide structures, which can be utilized in catalysis to finely tune metal-oxide interfaces.