Crystal Facet Structure Dependence and Promising Pd–Pt Catalytic Materials for Perhydroacenaphthene Dehydrogenation

Designing an effective Pd-Pt catalytic material with excellent catalytic performance for perhydroacenaphthene (PHAN) dehydrogenation is a great challenge. In this work, in order to explore the crystal facet structure over the bimetallic Pd-Pt catalyst on the dehydrogenation performance of PHAN, the surface compositions of two kinds of Pd (Pt) atoms with different coverage on Pd modulated Pt (PdPt) and Pt modulated Pd (PtPd) catalysts were designed and studied by means of density functional theory (DFT). Through the investigation of the reaction path of PHAN dehydrogenation on PdMLPt(111) and PtMLPd(111) surfaces, it was found that PdMLPt(111) was advantageous to PHAN dehydrogenation (Ea = 2.317 eV). This was attributed to a lower energy barrier, more stable dehydrogenation products, and the fact that Pd doping brought Pt(111) close to the Fermi level. Apparently, Pd modulated Pt catalyst has a broad application prospect in the dehydrogenation of PHAN. In the process of optimizing the PdPt morphology, a method for selecting the minimum active unit of PdPt catalysts with different ratios was proposed, that is, the most stable active unit: rhombus structure was determined according to the surface formation energy. Moreover, we correlated the relationship among the number of H atoms removed, adsorption energy, surface charge, activation energy, reaction energy, and surface coverage, and obtained the important parameters to predict the performance of PdPt catalyst in PHAN dehydrogenation system: surface charge and d-band center. Finally, the essential correlativity among Pd-Pt surface characteristics, catalytic PHAN activity, and adsorption energy was constructed; that is, the relationship model among d-band center, H atom, and product C12H8 adsorption energy was established. This work opens a new simultaneous path to improve the catalytic performance of Pd-Pt-based catalytic materials for PHAN dehydrogenation, which can be achieved by regulating the rhombic active units of Pt modulated by Pd.