Pt nanoparticles Confined in TiO2 Nanotubes With Enhanced Catalytic Performance for Phenol Hydrogenation by Atomic Layer Deposition

Pt nanoparticles exhibit good catalytic performance for the hydrogenation of phenol. However, the supported Pt nanoparticles often encounter leakage and growth in the reaction process. Herein, a confined Pt catalyst is elaborately designed and prepared by atomic layer deposition template-assisted method. The specific preparation process is as follows. ZnO single crystal nanowires are used as the sacrificed templates, and the sequential deposition of Pt nanoparticles (20 cycles) and TiO 2 layer (300 cycles) on ZnO nanowires templates by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is conducted, followed by removal of ZnO nanowires using acetic acid. The characterization results demonstrate that Pt nanoparticles have been imbedded into the inter wall of titanium oxide nanotubes. Compared with the supported Pt nanoparticles, the confined Pt nanoparticles exhibit enhanced catalytic activity and stability for phenol hydrogenation. TEM, XPS and CO chemisorption characterization results confirm that the confined catalyst possesses stronger Pt-TiO 2 interaction, resulting in the improved catalytic performance. Graphic Abstract Present here is the preparation of confined Pt catalyst by atomic layer deposition for the enhanced catalytic performance of the phenol hydrogenation. The high activity and good stability under the mild reaction conditions of this confined catalyst prepared by atomic layer deposition may have application prospect in industrialization.