High-purity hydrogen production from dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane catalyzed by zeolite-encapsulated subnanometer platinum-iron clusters

Abstract Liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) are considered promising carriers for large-scale H2 storage and transportation, among which the toluene-methylcyclohexane cycle has attracted great attention from industry and academia because of the low cost and its compatibility with the current i...

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Main Authors: Zhe He, Kailang Li, Tianxiang Chen, Yunchao Feng, Eduardo Villalobos-Portillo, Carlo Marini, Tsz Woon Benedict Lo, Fuyuan Yang, Liang Zhang, Lichen Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-01-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55370-z
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author Zhe He
Kailang Li
Tianxiang Chen
Yunchao Feng
Eduardo Villalobos-Portillo
Carlo Marini
Tsz Woon Benedict Lo
Fuyuan Yang
Liang Zhang
Lichen Liu
author_facet Zhe He
Kailang Li
Tianxiang Chen
Yunchao Feng
Eduardo Villalobos-Portillo
Carlo Marini
Tsz Woon Benedict Lo
Fuyuan Yang
Liang Zhang
Lichen Liu
author_sort Zhe He
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) are considered promising carriers for large-scale H2 storage and transportation, among which the toluene-methylcyclohexane cycle has attracted great attention from industry and academia because of the low cost and its compatibility with the current infrastructure facility for the transportation of chemicals. The large-scale deployment of the H2 storage/transportation plants based on the toluene-methylcyclohexane cycle relies on the use of high-performance catalysts, especially for the H2 release process through the dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane. In this work, we have developed a highly efficient catalyst for MCH dehydrogenation reaction by incorporating subnanometer PtFe clusters with precisely controlled composition and location within a rigid zeolite matrix. The resultant zeolite-encapsulated PtFe clusters exhibit the up-to-date highest reaction rate for dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane to toluene, very high chemoselectivity to toluene (enabling the production of H2 with purity >99.9%), remarkably high stability (>2000 h) and regenerability over consecutive reaction-regeneration cycles.
format Article
id doaj-art-e342aa9765a0468181e6e16a19ca674e
institution Kabale University
issn 2041-1723
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-e342aa9765a0468181e6e16a19ca674e2025-01-05T12:40:39ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-0116111410.1038/s41467-024-55370-zHigh-purity hydrogen production from dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane catalyzed by zeolite-encapsulated subnanometer platinum-iron clustersZhe He0Kailang Li1Tianxiang Chen2Yunchao Feng3Eduardo Villalobos-Portillo4Carlo Marini5Tsz Woon Benedict Lo6Fuyuan Yang7Liang Zhang8Lichen Liu9Engineering Research Center of Advanced Rare-Earth Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua UniversityCenter for Combustion Energy, Tsinghua UniversityDepartment of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HunghomEngineering Research Center of Advanced Rare-Earth Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua UniversityALBA Synchrotron Light Source, Cerdanyola del VallèsALBA Synchrotron Light Source, Cerdanyola del VallèsDepartment of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HunghomSchool of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua UniversityCenter for Combustion Energy, Tsinghua UniversityEngineering Research Center of Advanced Rare-Earth Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua UniversityAbstract Liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) are considered promising carriers for large-scale H2 storage and transportation, among which the toluene-methylcyclohexane cycle has attracted great attention from industry and academia because of the low cost and its compatibility with the current infrastructure facility for the transportation of chemicals. The large-scale deployment of the H2 storage/transportation plants based on the toluene-methylcyclohexane cycle relies on the use of high-performance catalysts, especially for the H2 release process through the dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane. In this work, we have developed a highly efficient catalyst for MCH dehydrogenation reaction by incorporating subnanometer PtFe clusters with precisely controlled composition and location within a rigid zeolite matrix. The resultant zeolite-encapsulated PtFe clusters exhibit the up-to-date highest reaction rate for dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane to toluene, very high chemoselectivity to toluene (enabling the production of H2 with purity >99.9%), remarkably high stability (>2000 h) and regenerability over consecutive reaction-regeneration cycles.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55370-z
spellingShingle Zhe He
Kailang Li
Tianxiang Chen
Yunchao Feng
Eduardo Villalobos-Portillo
Carlo Marini
Tsz Woon Benedict Lo
Fuyuan Yang
Liang Zhang
Lichen Liu
High-purity hydrogen production from dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane catalyzed by zeolite-encapsulated subnanometer platinum-iron clusters
Nature Communications
title High-purity hydrogen production from dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane catalyzed by zeolite-encapsulated subnanometer platinum-iron clusters
title_full High-purity hydrogen production from dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane catalyzed by zeolite-encapsulated subnanometer platinum-iron clusters
title_fullStr High-purity hydrogen production from dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane catalyzed by zeolite-encapsulated subnanometer platinum-iron clusters
title_full_unstemmed High-purity hydrogen production from dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane catalyzed by zeolite-encapsulated subnanometer platinum-iron clusters
title_short High-purity hydrogen production from dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane catalyzed by zeolite-encapsulated subnanometer platinum-iron clusters
title_sort high purity hydrogen production from dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane catalyzed by zeolite encapsulated subnanometer platinum iron clusters
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55370-z
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