Recently, researchers led by Dr. Qiang Fu at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have made new progress in the dynamic dispersion research of metal nanocatalysts. They found that a humid oxidative atmosphere can induce the spontaneous oxidation dispersion of supported Cu nanoparticles at room temperature. The findings were published in Nature Communications.
Atmosphere-induced dynamic dispersion of catalysts is an important phenomenon in heterogeneous catalysis. In recent years, Dr. Fu's team has made a series of advancements in this area, discovering that the reaction atmosphere can induce the dynamic formation of highly dispersed single atoms, nano-clusters, and monolayers, exhibiting enhanced catalytic performance.
In this study, researchers found that Cu nanoparticles supported on γ-Al2O3 surfaces can spontaneously disperse at room temperature in the presence of a humid oxidative atmosphere. The study indicates that oxygen and water jointly induce the formation of hydroxylated Cu intermediates, accelerating the diffusion of Cu atoms on the γ-Al2O3 surface. Furthermore, the introduction of water leads to a "push" (migration) and "pull" (anchoring) effect, promoting the structural transition of Cu species from nanoparticles to single atoms at room temperature, thereby enhancing their catalytic activity in reverse water-gas shift and carbon monoxide selective oxidation reactions.
This research demonstrates the significant role of water in the dynamic structural evolution of supported metal nanocatalysts and develops a simple strategy to achieve the redispersion of sintered catalysts under mild conditions.
For more information, please refer to the related paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47397-z
