Sub-2 nm PtBi alloy nanoparticles on Bi-N-C single-atom catalyst for selective oxidation of glycerol to 1, 3-dihydroxyacetone

Nanoscale metal particle-decorated single-atom catalysts (NP-SACs) have been widely used in the fields of photocatalysis, electrocatalysis and thermal-catalysis due to the combination of the advantages of nanoparticles and SACs. Herein, a strategy based on Pt-Bi atomic exchange is proposed to formation of ultrafine (sub-2 nm) PtBi nanoclusters on single atomic Bi-N-C. The dynamic structural evolution between single atomic Bi-N-C on nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets and Pt nanoclusters on the reconfiguration of stable PtBi alloy nanoparticles was demonstrated through spherical aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope, X-ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. By our synthesis strategy, the Bi-N-C sites significantly improves the dispersion of PtBi alloy nanoparticles, resulting in a high TOF up to 224.4 h^-1 and the 1, 3-dihydroxyacetone (DHA) selectivity of 77.4%, 3.5 times higher than that of commercial 5Pt/C. On the other hand, the strong interaction between SAC and nanoparticles enhanced the catalytic stability by preventing leaching of Bi. It opens new avenues toward the rational design of high-performance NP-SACs, enabled by the in-depth understanding to the interaction between NPs and SACs, which determines the structure of real active sites.