Metal−support interactions are of great importance in determining the support-activity in heterogeneous catalysis. Here we report a low-temperature synthetic strategy to create atomically dispersed palladium atoms anchored on defective hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanosheet. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the nitrogencontaining B vacancy can provide stable anchoring sites for palladium atoms. The presence of single palladium atoms was confirmed by spherical aberration correction electron microscopy and extended X-ray absorption fine structure measurement. This catalyst showed exceptional efficiency in chemoselective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde, along with excellent recyclability, sintering-resistant ability, and scalability. We anticipate this synthetic approach for the synthesis of high-quality SACs based on h-BN support is amenable to large-scale production of bench-stable catalysts with maximum atom efficiency for industrial applications.
Supported single-atom catalysts have become one of the most exciting frontiers in heterogeneous catalysis. The physicochemical properties of these materials are highly interesting; however, the generation of stable single atoms on solid supports is still challenging. Herein, we report an efficient and operationally simple postsynthesis method, consisting of spatial confining, freeze-drying, and reducing steps, for the construction of singly dispersed palladium atoms on SAPO-31 (Pd 1 /SAPO-31) with promising application prospects in the semihydrogenation of alkynes. A typical Pd−N−C single-atom catalyst derived from the ZIF-8-supported palladium complex was prepared and compared to Pd 1 /SAPO-31. The Pd 1 /SAPO-31 catalyst showed outstanding performance in the semihydrogenation of both phenylacetylene (85% selectivity at 99% conversion, 40 min) and 1-chloro-4-ethynylbenzene (95% selectivity at 99% conversion, 60 min). In addition, this single-atom palladium catalyst was highly active in triethoxysilane oxidation. Most importantly, this catalyst retained its atomic dispersion and catalytic activity after high-temperature thermal treatment in Ar at 700 °C. This study demonstrates how zeolites can be used to confine atomically dispersed metal species and tune the activity and stability of these materials to meet the needs of practical applications.
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