A high-throughput, solvent free method for dispersing metal atoms directly onto supports

Author(s):Show less -

Kohlrausch, Emerson C. ^{[1, 2]} ; Centurion, Higor Andrade ^[3] ; Lodge, Rhys W. ^[1] ; Luo, Xuanli ^[4] ; Slater, Thomas ^[5] ; Santos, Marcos J. L. ^[2] ; Ling, Sanliang ^[4] ; Mastelaro, Valmor R. ^[3] ; Cliffe, Matthew J. ^[1] ; Goncalves, Renato Vitalino ^[3] ; Alves Fernandes, Jesum ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Nottingham, Sch Chem, Nottingham NG7 2RD - England

^[2] Univ Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Programa Posgrad Ciencia Mat, BR-91501970 Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Inst Phys, BR-13560970 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Nottingham, Adv Mat Res Grp, Fac Engn, Nottingham NG7 2RD - England

^[5] Diamond Light Source Ltd, Electron Phys Sci Imaging Ctr, Didcot OX11 0DE, Oxon - England

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A; v. 9, n. 47 NOV 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Atomically-dispersed metal catalysts (ADMCs) on surfaces have demonstrated high activity and selectivity in many catalytic reactions. However, dispersing and stabilising individual atoms in support materials in an atom/energy-efficient scalable way still presents a significant challenge. Currently, the synthesis of ADMCs involves many steps and further filtration procedures, creating a substantial hurdle to their production at industrial scale. In this work, we develop a new pathway for producing ADMCs in which Pt atoms are stabilised in the nitrogen-interstices of a graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) framework using scalable, solvent-free, one-pot magnetron sputtering deposition. Our approach has the highest reported rate of ADMC production of 4.8 mg h(-1) and generates no chemical waste. Deposition of only 0.5 weight percent of Pt onto g-C3N4 led to improved hydrogen production by factor of ca. 3333 +/- 450 when compared to bare g-C3N4. PL analysis showed that the deposition of Pt atoms onto g-C3N4 suppressed the charge carrier recombination from the photogenerated electron-hole pairs of Pt/g-C3N4 thereby enhance hydrogen evolution. Scanning transmission electron microscope imaging before and after the hydrogen evolution reaction revealed that the Pt atoms stabilised in g-C3N4 have a high stability, with no agglomeration observed. Herein, it is shown that this scalable and clean approach can produce effective ADMCs with no further synthetic steps required, and that they can be readily used for catalytic reactions. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/18716-3 - Artificial photosynthesis: development of Tandem systems for hydrogen production from water and sunlight
• Grantee: Renato Vitalino Gonçalves
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/07296-2 - CDMF - Center for the Development of Functional Materials
• Grantee: Elson Longo da Silva
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers - RIDC