Solar-Driven Carbon Nanoreactor Coupling Gold and Platinum Nanocatalysts for Alcohol Oxidations

Wenjie Yang; Jinhui Zhao; Hao Tian; Lizhuo Wang; Xinyao Wang; Sheng Ye; Jian Liu; Jun Huang

doi:10.1002/smll.202002236

Solar-Driven Carbon Nanoreactor Coupling Gold and Platinum Nanocatalysts for Alcohol Oxidations

Small. 2020 Jul;16(30):e2002236. doi: 10.1002/smll.202002236. Epub 2020 Jun 23.

Authors

Wenjie Yang¹, Jinhui Zhao¹, Hao Tian², Lizhuo Wang¹, Xinyao Wang², Sheng Ye², Jian Liu^{2

3}, Jun Huang¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory for Catalysis Engineering, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sydney Nano Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 2006, Australia.
² State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, China.
³ DICP-Surrey Joint Centre for Future Materials, Department of Chemical and Process Engineering and Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK.

PMID: 32578386
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202002236

Abstract

This research reports gold (Au) and platinum (Pt) nanocatalysts spatially confined in a porous carbon nanosphere as a new solar-driven carbon nanoreactor (CNR). The CNRs have confined size (≈100 nm), high specific surface area, and high thermal and electrical conductivity. The black color of CNR can improve the energy harvest efficiency of the solar irradiation to thermal energy within each nanoreactor. The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) on Au nanocatalysts-induced electron oscillation causes the localized heating effect inside each CNR. Therefore, the heat will be accumulated in the confined space of CNR and transferred to reaction energy to drive the alcohol oxidation on uniformly dispersed Au and Pt nanoparticles inside the nanoreactor. The energetic electrons induced by LSPR effect on the surface of Au nanoparticles are transferred to the nearby and more active Pt surface via the conductive CNR, which strongly enhances the conversion of cinnamyl alcohol from 14% on Pt-CNR up to 100% on AuPt-CNR after a 3 h reaction. Therefore, the cooperative effect of Au and Pt nanoparticles confined in the CNRs utilized in this work can largely increase the efficiency of harvesting solar energy to drive the important chemical processes.

Keywords: alcohol oxidation; bimetallic catalysis; carbon nanoreactors; localized surface plasmon resonance; plasmonic photocatalysis.

Grants and funding

DP180104010/Australian Research Council