Dual-atom Pt heterogeneous catalyst with excellent catalytic performances for the selective hydrogenation and epoxidation

Atomically monodispersed heterogeneous catalysts with uniform active sites and high atom utilization efficiency are ideal heterogeneous catalytic materials. Designing such type of catalysts, however, remains a formidable challenge. Herein, using a wet-chemical method, we successfully achieved a mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (mpg-C₃N₄) supported dual-atom Pt₂ catalyst, which exhibited excellent catalytic performance for the highly selective hydrogenation of nitrobenzene to aniline. The conversion of ˃99% is significantly superior to the corresponding values of mpg-C₃N₄-supported single Pt atoms and ultra-small Pt nanoparticles (~2 nm). First-principles calculations revealed that the excellent and unique catalytic performance of the Pt₂ species originates from the facile H₂ dissociation induced by the diatomic characteristics of Pt and the easy desorption of the aniline product. The produced Pt₂/mpg-C₃N₄ samples are versatile and can be applied in catalyzing other important reactions, such as the selective hydrogenation of benzaldehyde and the epoxidation of styrene.