Engineering the oxygen vacancies enables Ni single-atom catalyst for stable and efficient C-H activation

Ni single-atom catalysts (SACs) can perform with the extremely high activity in the activation of the C-H bond, however, deactivation caused by carbon deposition became the main obstacle for commercialization. Herein, Ni/ CeO2 SAC was synthesized and employed in dry reforming of methane (DRM) reaction. The oxygen vacancies (OV) with different concentrations were successfully regulated on CeO2 surface by the replacement of Ce4+ cation by a smaller-size cation M (M= Mg, Co, Zn). The catalyst with the highest OV concentration has performed with the highest activity retention and a high turnover frequency of methane (14.5 s(-1)). During the DRM process, along with the increase of the OV concentration from 21.9% to 30.8%, the amount of carbon deposition decreased by 50%. The effective C-H activation function from Ni SACs and CO2 activation function from OV were synergistically combined, leading to a high activity of methane conversion and an effective carbon removal process in the OV-SAC catalytic system. This work provides a novel strategy to obtain a robust OV-SAC catalytic system for efficient and stable C-H activation.

Automated summary

Ni/CeO2 single-atom catalyst with regulated oxygen vacancies (OV) on CeO2 surface was synthesized and employed in dry reforming of methane (DRM) reaction. The catalyst with the highest OV concentration exhibited the highest activity retention and a high turnover frequency of methane. The synergistic combination of C-H activation function from Ni single-atom catalysts and CO2 activation function from OV facilitated efficient methane conversion and carbon removal in the OV-SAC catalytic system.