High-Entropy Intermetallics Serve Ultrastable Single-Atom Pt for Propane Dehydrogenation

Propane dehydrogenation has been a promising propylene production process that can compensate for the increasing global demand for propylene. However, Pt-based catalysts with high stability at ≥600 °C have barely been reported because the catalysts typically result in short catalyst life owing to side reactions and coke formation. Herein, we report a new class of heterogeneous catalysts using high-entropy intermetallics (HEIs). Pt-Pt ensembles, which cause side reactions, are entirely diluted by the component inert metals in PtGe-type HEIs. The resultant HEI (PtCoCu) (GeGaSn)/Ca-SiO2 exhibited an outstandingly high catalytic stability, even at 600 °C (kd-1 = τ = 4146 h = 173 d), and almost no deactivation of the catalyst was observed for 2 months for the first time. Detailed experimental studies and theoretical calculations demonstrated that the combination of the site-isolation and entropy effects upon multi-metallization of PtGe drastically enhanced the desorption of propylene and the thermal stability, eventually suppressing the side reactions even at high reaction temperatures.