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Direct Observation of Dynamic Bond Evolution in Single‐Atom Pt/C 3 N 4 Catalysts
Author(s) -
Zhang Linwen,
Long Ran,
Zhang Yaoming,
Duan Delong,
Xiong Yujie,
Zhang Yajun,
Bi Yingpu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201915774
Subject(s) - catalysis , bond cleavage , platinum , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , atom (system on chip) , metal , photocatalysis , chemistry , photochemistry , oxidation state , materials science , single bond , crystallography , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , computer science , engineering , embedded system , alkyl
Single‐atom catalysts are promising platforms for heterogeneous catalysis, especially for clean energy conversion, storage, and utilization. Although great efforts have been made to examine the bonding and oxidation state of single‐atom catalysts before and/or after catalytic reactions, when information about dynamic evolution is not sufficient, the underlying mechanisms are often overlooked. Herein, we report the direct observation of the charge transfer and bond evolution of a single‐atom Pt/C 3 N 4 catalyst in photocatalytic water splitting by synchronous illumination X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Specifically, under light excitation, we observed Pt−N bond cleavage to form a Pt 0 species and the corresponding C=N bond reconstruction; these features could not be detected on the metallic platinum‐decorated C 3 N 4 catalyst. As expected, H 2 production activity (14.7 mmol h −1 g −1 ) was enhanced significantly with the single‐atom Pt/C 3 N 4 catalyst as compared to metallic Pt‐C 3 N 4 (0.74 mmol h −1 g −1 ).