Atomic Pt in Ni cluster promoted hydrogen spillover for enhanced α,β-unsaturated aldehydes hydrogenation

Abstract

Hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes is an important reaction for synthesizing aldehydes; however, traditional low-cost Ni catalysts exhibit low hydrogenation activity primarily due to their poor hydrogen activation ability. In this study, we introduced Pt single atoms dispersed in Ni particles to form a PtNi/SiO₂ catalyst for the hydrogenation of methyl acrylaldehyde to isobutyraldehyde. The incorporation of Pt single atoms increased the activity of PtNi/SiO₂ by more than four times compared to Ni/SiO₂, while maintaining 100% selectivity for the hydrogenation of the C = C double bond. A series of characterization results and DFT calculation demonstrated that Pt doping enhanced H₂ dissociation and hydrogen spillover compared to the limited hydrogen activation observed on Ni/SiO₂. Furthermore, the Pt single atoms exhibited a stronger electronic transfer effect with Ni, which enhanced the ability of the Pt single atoms to activate H₂ and facilitate hydrogen spillover, thereby resulting in improved catalytic activity of the catalyst. This study emphasized the advantages and synergistic effects of single atoms in enhancing the catalytic activity of bimetallic catalyst systems.