Hollow Mesoporous Nanoreactors with Encaged PtSn Alloy Nanoparticles for Selective Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol

Hollow mesoporous nanoreactors with encaged functional nanoparticles are promising heterogeneous catalysts due to the advantages related to their hollow cavities. In this study, we employ metal ion-bound polymer micelles to synthesize PtSn alloy nanoparticle-encaged hollow mesoporous nanoreactors (PtSn@HMSNs), which contain similar to 4 nm PtSn alloy NPs located in similar to 13 nm hollow cavities and relatively large (similar to 9 nm) mesoporous channels in silica shells. Relative to monometallic Pt@HMSNs and supported Pt1Sn0.3/SiO2, Pt1Sn0.3@HMSNs exhibit greatly enhanced activity and selectivity for hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol. At 1.0 MPa H-2, 100 degrees C, and a furfural/Pt molar ratio of 1884:1, 97.5% of furfuryl alcohol yield was achieved in 5.0 h. The dramatically promoted catalytic performance of Pt1Sn0.3@HMSNs can be assigned to the confinement effect that the location of active NPs inside hollow cavities increases the collision rates between reactants and active NPs to promote catalytic activity, as well as the synergistic effect between Pt and Sn.

Automated summary

This study utilized metal ion-bound polymer micelles to synthesize PtSn alloy nanoparticle-encaged hollow mesoporous nanoreactors, which exhibited significantly enhanced catalytic activity and selectivity for hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol, achieving a high yield. The improved catalytic performance can be attributed to the confinement effect of active nanoparticles inside hollow cavities, increasing collision rates between reactants and active nanoparticles, as well as the synergistic effect between Pt and Sn.