Designing active, selective and stable nanoparticle catalysts is a key challenge in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. Raspberry-Colloid-Templated (RCT) catalysts are an emerging class of bioinspired materials that show an unprecedented level of nanoparticle sinter-resistance and exhibit high catalytic activity in a wide range of selective oxidation and hydrogenation reactions. In the first part of the talk, the material characteristics underlying the nanoparticle stability and accessibility in these RCT catalysts will be discussed [1]. Using a combination of theoretical modeling, quantitative 3D electron microscopy and epitaxial overgrowth a detailed picture of the embedding of metallic nanoparticles at the pore-matrix interface is obtained. In the second part, the focus will be on the catalytic aspects of RCTs containing embedded Pd-in-Au alloy nanoparticles as a robust model system for selective alkene hydrogenation [2,3]. By combining experiment and density functional theory calculations the strong impact of the Pd ensemble size on the hydrogen dissociation, migration and recombination kinetics and energetics is unraveled. The material science and catalysis concepts discussed are valuable in guiding the structural design of stable and active colloidal catalyst through the nanoparticle-support interface and the nanoparticle surface composition.

Raspberry colloid templated catalysts: From material design to catalytic performance

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ACS Spring 2023

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