MOF‐Confined Sub‐2 nm Atomically Ordered Intermetallic PdZn Nanoparticles as High‐Performance Catalysts for Selective Hydrogenation of Acetylene |
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Authors: | Mingzhen Hu Shu Zhao Shoujie Liu Chen Chen Wenxing Chen Wei Zhu Chao Liang Weng‐Chon Cheong Yu Wang Yi Yu Qing Peng Kebin Zhou Jun Li Yadong Li |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, P. R. China;2. School of Chemical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China;3. Beijing Guyue New Materials Research Institute, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, P. R. China;4. College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, P. R. China;5. School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University Institution, Shanghai, P. R. China |
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Abstract: | Controllable synthesis of ultrasmall atomically ordered intermetallic nanoparticles is a challenging task, owing to the high temperature commonly required for the formation of intermetallic phases. Here, a metal–organic framework (MOF)‐confined co‐reduction strategy is developed for the preparation of sub‐2 nm intermetallic PdZn nanoparticles, by employing the well‐defined porous structures of calcinated ZIF‐8 (ZIF‐8C) and an in situ co‐reduction therein. HAADF‐STEM, HRTEM, and EDS characterizations reveal the homogeneous dispersion of these sub‐2 nm intermetallic PdZn nanoparticles within the ZIF‐8C frameworks. XRD, XPS, and EXAFS measurements further confirm the atomically ordered intermetallic phase nature of these sub‐2 nm PdZn nanoparticles. Selective hydrogenation of acetylene evaluation results show the excellent catalytic properties of the sub‐2 nm intermetallic PdZn, which result from the energetically more favorable path for acetylene hydrogenation and ethylene desorption over the ultrasmall particles than over larger‐sized intermetallic PdZn as revealed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Moreover, this protocol is also extendable for the preparation of sub‐2 nm intermetallic PtZn nanoparticles and is expected to provide a novel methodology in synthesizing ultrasmall atomically ordered intermetallic nanomaterials by rationally functionalizing MOFs. |
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Keywords: | intermetallics MOF‐confined sub‐2 nm |
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