Lei Haofan, Zhang Ningqiang, Hu Sunpei, Peng Fenglin, Zhou Jiahai, He Jian, Zhang Lijun, Wang Haiqian, Ma Chao, Yan Han, Shimizu Ken-Ichi, Zeng Jie
Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Key Laboratory of Strongly-Coupled Quantum Matter Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Surface and Interface Chemistry and Energy Catalysis of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Department of Chemical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, P.R. China.
Institute for Catalysis, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 001-0021, Japan.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025 Jul 28;64(31):e202509239. doi: 10.1002/anie.202509239. Epub 2025 Jun 3.
For supported catalysts, the redispersion of aggregated metal sites into single atoms is dictated by the reactant-induced metal-support interaction, which may also deteriorate the intrinsic activity. Here we discovered the spontaneous redispersion of CeO-supported Pt clusters into Pt single atoms during catalytic CO oxidation, driven by Pt-CeO interaction with surface hydroxyls as the key stabilizer. This structural evolution was accompanied by deactivation, leading to inferior catalytic activity. After achieving the clear distinction of PtO clusters and Pt single atoms, we propose a thermal aging strategy to preserve the Pt clusters against redispersion. The high-temperature calcination at 800 °C significantly removed the surface hydroxyls of Pt/CeO, thereby eliminating the anchoring sites for Pt redispersion and consequently preserving the Pt clusters. Moreover, the Ce/Ce redox cycles were triggered, enabling the interfacial Ce sites to fulfill O activation. Together with the enhanced CO adsorption on Pt clusters over single atoms, this redox flexibility in valence change delivered superior activity for CO oxidation.
