Multifunctional Pd/MOFs@MOFs Confined Core‐Shell Catalysts with Wrinkled Surface for Selective Catalysis

• Published in: Chemistry, an Asian journal Vol. 16; no. 22; pp. 3743 - 3747
• Main Authors: Chen, Min‐Jie, Chang, Gang‐Gang, Chen, Li‐Yan, Huang, Ke‐Xin, Pu, Chun, Li, Dan, Yao, Yao, Li, Jia‐Xin, Yang, Xiao‐Yu, Chen, Banglin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 15.11.2021
• Subjects: Core-shell; MOFs; Multi-functional; Selective catalysis; Wrinkled surface
• ISSN: 1861-4728; 1861-471X
• DOI: 10.1002/asia.202100922

Process intensification, targeting the maximization of spatial‐temporal productivity utilizing minimum energy and resources has always been the constant trends especially in chemical industry. In this regard, tandem reactions that are able to perform a multi‐step reaction in a single pot by eliminating costly separation steps have been viewed as a typical paradigm. However, a spatial isolation of varied active sites with a controlled manner in a single catalyst to avoid deactivation and work synergistically is a challenging problem yet sometimes being overlooked. In this work, a spatial base‐metal core‐shell structured catalyst with wrinkled surface was successfully fabricated by a direct homoepitaxial growth method in an acid/water system, which exhibited increased hydrophobicity, exposure of active sites and significantly improved product selectivity towards one‐pot Knoevenagel condensation‐hydrogenation tandem reaction compared with the uncoated catalyst. Meanwhile, the catalytic performance was largely retained and the structural stability was maintained even after successive 8 cycles, which shows great promise for industrial applications. The core‐shell catalyst with surface wrinkles greatly improves the selectivity of tandem catalysis.