New routes for the construction of strong metal—support interactions

Supported metal nanoparticles (NPs) on solid carriers are highly efficient catalysts in many industrial reactions. However, the sintering and/or leaching of metal NPs occurred under harsh reaction conditions that caused the catalyst deactivation. Strong metal-support interactions (SMSIs) serve as an effective method to stabilize the metal NPs against sintering and leaching, which have been extensively studied. In addition to the classical route to construct SMSIs via high-temperature reduction treatments, new routes have emerged recently to extend the scope of catalysts with SMSIs and optimized their catalytic performances. In this review, we briefly summarize these routes that avoid the high-temperature reduction treatments for the construction of SMSIs. Their significant advantages in stabilizing metal NPs, modulating the geometric/electronic structure of metal species, and the mechanism on the SMSI formation are particularly discussed. Finally, the current challenges and developing trends in the construction of SMSIs for achieving more efficient catalysts are outlooked.