CO oxidation on supported single Pt atoms: Experimental and ab initio density functional studies of CO interaction with Pt atom on θ-Al ₂O₃(010) surface

Although there are only a few known examples of supported single-atom catalysts, they are unique because they bridge the gap between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Here, we report the CO oxidation activity of monodisperse single Pt atoms supported on an inert substrate, θ-alumina (Al₂O₃), in the presence of stoichiometric oxygen. Since CO oxidation on single Pt atoms cannot occur via a conventional Langmuir-Hinshelwood scheme (L-H scheme) which requires at least one Pt-Pt bond, we carried out a first-principles density functional theoretical study of a proposed pathway which is a variation on the conventional L-H scheme and inspired by the organometallic chemistry of platinum. We find that a single supported Pt atom prefers to bond to O₂ over CO. CO then bonds with the oxygenated Pt atom and forms a carbonate which dissociates to liberate CO₂, leaving an oxygen atom on Pt. Subsequent reaction with another CO molecule regenerates the single-atom catalyst. The energetics of the proposed mechanism suggests that the single Pt atoms will get covered with CO ₃ unless the temperature is raised to eliminate CO₂. We find evidence for CO₃ coverage at room temperature supporting the proposed mechanism in an in situ diffuse reflectance infrared study of CO adsorption on the catalyst's supported single atoms. Thus, our results clearly show that supported Pt single atoms are catalytically active and that this catalytic activity can occur without involving the substrate. Characterization by electron microscopy and X-ray absorption studies of the monodisperse Pt/θ-Al₂O₃ are also presented.