Catalytic Platinum Nanoparticles Decorated with Subnanometer Molybdenum Clusters for Biomass Processing

Yiteng Zheng, Ziyu Tang, Simon G. Podkolzin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

The development of improved technologies for biomass processing into transportation fuels and industrial chemicals is hindered due to a lack of efficient catalysts for selective oxygen removal. Here we report that platinum nanoparticles decorated with subnanometer molybdenum clusters can efficiently catalyze hydrodeoxygenation of acetic acid, which serves as a model biomass compound. In contrast with monometallic Mo catalysts that are inactive and monometallic Pt catalysts that have low activities and selectivities, bimetallic Pt–Mo catalysts exhibit synergistic effects with high activities and selectivities. The maximum activity occurs at a Pt to Mo molar ratio of three. Although Mo atoms themselves are catalytically inactive, they serve as preferential binding anchors for oxygen atoms while a catalytic transformation proceeds on neighboring surface Pt atoms. Beyond biomass processing, Pt–Mo nanoparticles are promising catalysts for a wide variety of reactions that require a transformation of molecules with an oxygen atom and, more broadly, in other fields of science and technology that require tuning of surface–oxygen interactions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5174-5179
Number of pages6
JournalChemistry - A European Journal
Volume26
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - 21 Apr 2020

Keywords

  • bimetallics
  • heterogeneous catalysis
  • hydrodeoxygenation
  • reaction testing

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