Synergy of Pt Single Atom and Clusters toward Selective Glycerol Oxidation

Selective oxidation of excess glycerol to glyceric acid is a significant reaction but the reaction is inhibited by the C-H activation that has a high energy barrier. Here, we introduced Pt single atom species (Pt-O-Ce) into Pt/CeO2, which gave a high glycerol conversion of 90.9% with a high glyceric acid selectivity of 83.2% under the mild reaction conditions (T=100 degrees C, O-2 flow of 5 mL min(-1), and non-alkaline). The C-H bond can be easily adsorbed and activated over Pt-O-Ce, which facilitated the selective oxidation of primary C-OH with a bidentate adsorption on Pt-cluster, verified by the CO-DRIFT, XPS, HRTEM, and in situ IR adsorption experiments. This synergy provided a way to design stable and active catalyst in biomass conversion.