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Marcella N, Lim JS, Płonka AM, Yan G, Owen CJ, van der Hoeven JES, Foucher AC, Ngan HT, Torrisi SB, Marinkovic NS, Stach EA, Weaver JF, Aizenberg J, Sautet P, Kozinsky B, Frenkel AI. Decoding reactive structures in dilute alloy catalysts. Nat Commun 2022; 13:832. [PMID: 35149699 PMCID: PMC8837610 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28366-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Rational catalyst design is crucial toward achieving more energy-efficient and sustainable catalytic processes. Understanding and modeling catalytic reaction pathways and kinetics require atomic level knowledge of the active sites. These structures often change dynamically during reactions and are difficult to decipher. A prototypical example is the hydrogen-deuterium exchange reaction catalyzed by dilute Pd-in-Au alloy nanoparticles. From a combination of catalytic activity measurements, machine learning-enabled spectroscopic analysis, and first-principles based kinetic modeling, we demonstrate that the active species are surface Pd ensembles containing only a few (from 1 to 3) Pd atoms. These species simultaneously explain the observed X-ray spectra and equate the experimental and theoretical values of the apparent activation energy. Remarkably, we find that the catalytic activity can be tuned on demand by controlling the size of the Pd ensembles through catalyst pretreatment. Our data-driven multimodal approach enables decoding of reactive structures in complex and dynamic alloy catalysts. Rational catalyst design is crucial toward achieving more energy-efficient and sustainable catalytic processes. Here the authors report a data-driven approach for understanding catalytic reactions mechanisms in dilute bimetallic catalysts by combining X-ray absorption spectroscopy with activity studies and kinetic modeling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas Marcella
- Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - Jin Soo Lim
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Anna M Płonka
- Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - George Yan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Cameron J Owen
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Jessi E S van der Hoeven
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.,Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Alexandre C Foucher
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Hio Tong Ngan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Steven B Torrisi
- Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Nebojsa S Marinkovic
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Eric A Stach
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Jason F Weaver
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Joanna Aizenberg
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.,Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Philippe Sautet
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.,Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Boris Kozinsky
- Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA. .,Robert Bosch LLC, Research and Technology Center, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
| | - Anatoly I Frenkel
- Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA. .,Chemistry Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA.
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