Efficient Photocatalytic Propane Direct Dehydrogenation to Propylene Over PtO<sub>2</sub> Clusters
Chi Duan, Jinjia Liu, Zhenhua Li, Run Shi, Jiaqi Zhao, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Xiaodong Wen, Liping Zhang, Li‐Zhu Wu, Tierui Zhang
Abstract
Abstract The direct dehydrogenation of alkanes to olefins under mild conditions is challenging due to the inert nature of alkyl C─H bonds. Herein, an efficient photocatalytic system is developed for propane direct dehydrogenation (PDH) to propylene, consisting of ≈1.30 nm sized PtO 2 clusters immobilized on a layered double hydroxide ‐derived ZnO/Al 2 O 3 support (LD‐Pt n ). Under UV excitation (365 nm), photogenerated holes in ZnO migrate to Pt sites at PtO 2 /ZnO interfaces, thereby activating and dissociating C─H bonds in propane. A propylene production rate of almost 1 mmol g −1 h −1 and a nearly 100% selectivity are achieved for the compositionally optimized LD‐Pt n photocatalyst. Control experiments and density functional theory calculations further verify that the excellent photocatalytic PDH performance of LD‐Pt n stems from synergism between ZnO semiconductor and the loaded Pt species. This work identifies a promising new route for direct production of olefins from alkanes.