Determining the contribution of Mo single atoms components in MoO2 nanocatalyst in transfer hydrogenation
Zenan Hu, Yongjian Ai, Yan Zhao, Yiming Wang, Kelong Ding, Wenhui Zhang, Rongxiu Guo, Xinyue Zhang, Xiangbin Cai, Ning Wang, Jianshe Hu, Qionglin Liang, Hongyang Liu, Fei Huang, Limin Wu, Jiangwei Zhang, Hongbin Sun
Abstract
Nanocatalysts are likely to contain undetected single-atom components, which may have been ignored but have significant effect in catalytic reactions. Herein, we report a catalyst composed of Mo single atoms (SAs) and MoO2 nanoparticles (NPs) (MoSAs-MoO2@NC), which is an exact model to understand how the SAs contribute to the nanocatalyst. Both experimental results and the density functional theory calculations reveal that Mo SAs on nitrogen-doped carbon provides the reaction zone for nitro reduction, while MoO2 is the active site for decomposing hydrazine hydrate to produce H⋆. Thanks to the synergy between Mo SAs and MoO2 NPs, this catalyst exhibits noble metal-like catalytic activity (100% conversion at 4 min) for the dechlorination-proof transfer hydrogenation. Additionally, the hydrogen migration on the catalyst is verified by the electrochemical tests in the absence of a hydrogen source. This work provides a model for further study on the coexistence of single atoms in nanoparticle catalysts.