Dynamic boron-doping switched chitin-based single-atom Pt catalyst for chemo-selective hydrogenation

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 2296 - 9
• Main Authors: Li, Yan, Lu, Lijun, Jiang, Xueyu, Yang, Dali, Chen, Jeng-Lung, Dutta Chowdhury, Abhishek, Li, Wu, Pei, Xianglin, Lei, Aiwen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 07.03.2025; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/638/224/685; 639/638/77/887; Biomass; Boron; Catalysts; Chitin; Doping; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrogenation; multidisciplinary; Nanotechnology; Nanowires; Natural polymers; Polymers; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Selectivity; Structural analysis
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57434-0

Biomass valorization is a way to promote the ‘waste-to-wealth’ concept, which is a pre-requisite condition for a future sustainable lifestyle. The direct utilization of natural polymer for value-added materials should be prioritized. With this object, we demonstrate a facile and economical method to prepare chitin-derived supramolecular nanowires-stabilized single-atom sites Pt catalysts (SS-Pt-CSNs). A comprehensive characterization shows the structure of single-atom Pt coordinated with the organic supramolecular (ligand-type) entity, which is both flexible (like in homogenous catalyst) and robust (like in heterogenous catalyst). Such hybrid characteristics of these SS-Pt-CSNs materials exhibit excellent catalytic performance for chemo-selective hydrogenation of various unsaturated bonds with a selectivity of more than 90:1 and a high turnover number (TON) of 121,350. Mechanistic studies demonstrate that both empty coordination sites of Pt and dynamic B-doping are the key factors for exceptional efficiency and high selectivity. Biomass valorization is a way to promote the ‘waste-to-wealth’ concept, which is a prerequisite condition for a future sustainable lifestyle. Here, the authors demonstrate a methodology to prepare chitin-derived supramolecular nanowires-stabilized single-atom site platinum catalysts.