Combining shell confinement and outside decoration to boost the selectivity of Pt nanocatalysts in hollow-flower like Zr-MOFs double shell micro-reactor for hydrogenation cinnamaldehyde to unsaturated alcohol

Rational design of the heterogeneous micro-environment with subtle engineering in catalyst preparation is crucial for inorganic materials to boost catalytic efficiency. Here, we designed a hollow-flower like Zr-MOF double-shell nanosphere to confine Pt nanocatalysts, decorating with functional groups such as-H,-NH2,-Br and NO2 on shell, and employed as catalytic micro-reactors for hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde. They were featured as Void@UiO-66-NH2@Pt@UiO-66-X (X = H, NH2, Br, NO2) with ultra-fine Pt nanocatalysts (ca. 1.7 nm) arched on inner UiO-66-NH2 shell. By comparing the catalytic efficiency of the samples with different groups, it was demonstrated that the double-shell with outside decoration is not only functional as stabilizer to confine Pt nanoparticles in high dispersion, also as the sieve to control the access direction of cinnamaldehyde to Pt site in view of the channel in moderate size formed on the outer shell; by changing the decoration groups on the outer shell, above advances could be further intensified with the enhanced mass-transformation. The Voi-d@UiO-66-NH2@Pt@UiO-66-NO2 greatly boost the yield of unsaturated alcohol in outstanding selectivity (95%). Therefore, the combination of shell confinement and outside decoration present on the Pt-embedded Zr-MOFs could be an attractive design for advanced applications.

Automated summary

Rational design of the micro-environment is crucial for boosting catalytic efficiency. A double-shell nanosphere structure was designed to confine Pt nanocatalysts, and the catalytic efficiency was further improved by changing the decoration groups on the outer shell.