Promotion effect of epoxy group neighboring single-atom Cu site on acetylene hydrochlorination

Carbon materials have been used as the support for catalysts in the field of acetylene hydrochlorination,the influence of inevitable oxygen-containing moieties on the reaction is often ignored and the mechanism of the oxygen-doping structure remains ambiguous.Herein,we explored the effect of the oxygen-containing group(C-O-C)in the support on the activity of single-atom dispersed Cu catalysts.By immersing the Cu single-atom catalyst in an alkaline solution,the epoxy species on the carbon support was cleaved to obtain a pure ether species while the Cu site was modified to a more electron-deficient state.The turnover frequency value of Cu/O-FLP catalyst with epoxy groups was 1.6-fold higher than that of alkaline treated catalyst.Our result indicated that the epoxy groups could assist adjacent single-atom Cu sites to synergistically promote the adsorption and cleavage of the reactant hydrogen chloride toward form C-OH and Cu-Cl bonds,and reduce the reaction energy barrier.The presence of electron deficient Cu sites and ether species could induce competitive adsorption of the acetylene and hydrogen chloride,thereby reducing the activity of the catalyst.This study highlights the influence of surface oxygen species and the tunability of the support,providing the foundation for the fabrication of higher-activity Cu catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination.

Phase engineering two-dimensional nanostructures for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

Hydrogen(H2)is considered to be a promising substitute for fossil fuels.Two-dimensional(2D)nanomaterials have exhibited an efficient electrocatalytic capacity to catalyze hydrogen evolution reaction(HER).Particularly,phase engineering of 2D nanomaterials is opening a novel research direction to endow 2D nanostructures with fascinating properties for deep applications in catalyzing HER.In this review,we briefly summarize the research progress and present the current challenges on phase engineering of 2D nanomaterials for their applications in electrocatalytic HER.Our summary will be of significance to provide fundamental understanding for designing novel 2D nanomaterials with unconventional phases to electrochemically catalyze HER.

Manipulating micro-electric field and coordination-saturated site configuration boosted activity and safety of frustrated single-atom Cu/O Lewis pair for acetylene hydrochlorination

Simultaneously boosting acetylene hydrochlorination activity and avoiding formation of explosive copper acetylide over Cu-based catalyst,which represented a promising alternative to Hg-based and noble metal catalysts,remained challenging.Herein,we fabricated a frustrated single-atom Cu/O Lewis pair catalyst(Cu/O-FLP)by coupling epoxide group(C-O-C)with atomdispersed Cu-cis-N_(2)C_(2)Cl center to address this challenge.The basic epoxy site modulated the electron-deficient state of Lewisacidic Cu center and paired with the Cu-cis-N_(2)C_(2)Cl moiety to preferentially break HCl into different electronegative Cu-Clδ-and C-O-H^(δ+)intermediates,which further induced both an extra localized electric field to polarize acetylene and a upshift of the dband center of catalyst,thereby promoting adsorption and enrichment of acetylene by enhancing the dipolar interaction between acetylene and active intermediates.Moreover,the generated Cu-Clδ-and C-O-H^(δ+)drastically reduced the energy barrier of ratelimiting step and made vinyl chloride easier to desorb from the Lewis-basic oxygen-atom site rather than traditional Lewis-acidic Cu center.These superiorities ensured a higher activity of Cu/O-FLP compared with its counterparts.Meanwhile,preferential dissociation of HCl endowed single-atom Cu with the coordination-saturated configuration,which impeded formation of explosive copper acetylide by avoiding the direct interaction between Cu and acetylene,ensuring the intrinsic safety during catalysis.