Sulfur stabilizing metal nanoclusters on carbon at high temperatures

Peng Yin; Xiao Luo; Yanfu Ma; Sheng-Qi Chu; Si Chen; Xusheng Zheng; Junling Lu; Xiao-Jun Wu; Hai-Wei Liang

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23426-z

Sulfur stabilizing metal nanoclusters on carbon at high temperatures

Nat Commun. 2021 May 25;12(1):3135. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-23426-z.

Authors

Peng Yin^#¹, Xiao Luo^#^{1

2}, Yanfu Ma^#¹, Sheng-Qi Chu³, Si Chen¹, Xusheng Zheng⁴, Junling Lu⁵, Xiao-Jun Wu^{6

7}, Hai-Wei Liang⁸

Affiliations

¹ Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
² Synergetic Innovation of Quantum Information & Quantum Technology, CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, and CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China.
³ Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴ National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, P. R. China.
⁵ Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. junling@ustc.edu.cn.
⁶ Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. xjwu@ustc.edu.cn.
⁷ Synergetic Innovation of Quantum Information & Quantum Technology, CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, and CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China. xjwu@ustc.edu.cn.
⁸ Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. hwliang@ustc.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Supported metal nanoclusters consisting of several dozen atoms are highly attractive for heterogeneous catalysis with unique catalytic properties. However, the metal nanocluster catalysts face the challenges of thermal sintering and consequent deactivation owing to the loss of metal surface areas particularly in the applications of high-temperature reactions. Here, we report that sulfur-a documented poison reagent for metal catalysts-when doped in a carbon matrix can stabilize ~1 nanometer metal nanoclusters (Pt, Ru, Rh, Os, and Ir) at high temperatures up to 700 °C. We find that the enhanced adhesion strength between metal nanoclusters and the sulfur-doped carbon support, which arises from the interfacial metal-sulfur bonding, greatly retards both metal atom diffusion and nanocluster migration. In catalyzing propane dehydrogenation at 550 °C, the sulfur-doped carbon supported Pt nanocluster catalyst with interfacial electronic effects exhibits higher selectivity to propene as well as more stable durability than sulfur-free carbon supported catalysts.