Bipyridine-Confined Silver Single-Atom Catalysts Facilitate In-Plane C–O Coupling for Propylene Electrooxidation
Mingfang Chi, Jiankang Zhao, Jingwen Ke, Yan Liu, Ruyang Wang, Chuanhao Wang, Sung‐Fu Hung, Tsung-Ju Lee, Zhigang Geng, Jie Zeng
Abstract
The electrooxidation of propylene presents a promising route for the production of 1,2-propylene glycol (PG) under ambient conditions. However, the C–O coupling process remains a challenge owing to the high energy barrier. In this work, we developed a highly efficient electrocatalyst of bipyridine-confined Ag single atoms on UiO-bpy substrates (Ag SAs/UiO-bpy), which exposed two in-plane coordination vacancies during reaction for the co-adsorption of key intermediates. Detailed structure and electronic property analyses demonstrate that CH 3 CHCH 2 OH* and *OH could stably co-adsorb in a square planar configuration, which then accelerates the charge transfer between them. The combination of stable co-adsorption and efficient charge transfer facilitates the C–O coupling process, thus significantly lowering its energy barrier. At 2.4 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode, Ag SAs/UiO-bpy achieved a record-high activity of 61.9 g PG m –2 h –1 . Our work not only presents a robust electrocatalyst but also advances a new perspective on catalyst design for propylene electrooxidation.