Ethane Dehydrogenation over the Core–Shell Pt-Based Alloy Catalysts: Driven by Engineering the Shell Composition and Thickness

Pt-based catalysts as the commercial catalysts in ethane dehydrogenation (EDH) face one of the main challenges of realizing the balance between coke formation and catalytic activity. In this work, a strategy to drive the catalytic performance of EDH on Pt–Sn alloy catalysts is proposed by rationally engineering the shell surface structure and thickness of core–shell Pt@Pt3Sn and Pt3Sn@Pt catalysts from a theoretical perspective. Eight types of Pt@Pt3Sn and Pt3Sn@Pt catalysts with different Pt and Pt3Sn shell thicknesses are considered and compared with the industrially used Pt and Pt3Sn catalysts. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations completely describe the reaction network of EDH, including the side reactions of deep dehydrogenation and C–C bond cracking. Kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations reveal the influences of the catalyst surface structure, experimentally related temperatures, and reactant partial pressures. The results show that CHCH* is the main precursor for coke formation, and Pt@Pt3Sn catalysts generally have higher C2H4(g) activity and lower selectivity compared to those of Pt3Sn@Pt catalysts, which is attributed to the unique surface geometrical and electronic properties. 1Pt3Sn@4Pt and 1Pt@4Pt3Sn are screened out as catalysts exhibiting excellent performance; especially, the 1Pt3Sn@4Pt catalyst has much higher C2H4(g) activity and 100% C2H4(g) selectivity compared to those of 1Pt@4Pt3Sn and the widely used Pt and Pt3Sn catalysts. The two descriptors C2H5* adsorption energy and reaction energy of its dehydrogenation to C2H4* are proposed to qualitatively evaluate the C2H4(g) selectivity and activity, respectively. This work facilitates a valuable exploration for optimizing the catalytic performance of core–shell Pt-based catalysts in EDH and reveals the great importance of the fine control of the catalyst shell surface structure and thickness.