RESUMO
Direct selective transformation of greenhouse methane (CH4) to liquid oxygenates (methanol) can substitute energy-intensive two-step (reforming/Fischer-Tropsch) synthesis while creating environmental benefits. The development of inexpensive, selective, and robust catalysts that enable room temperature conversion will decide the future of this technology. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) with isolated active centers embedded in support have displayed significant promises in catalysis to drive challenging reactions. Herein, high-density Ni single atoms are developed and stabilized on carbon nitride (NiCN) via thermal condensation of preorganized Ni-coordinated melem units. The physicochemical characterization of NiCN with various analytical techniques including HAADF-STEM and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) validate the successful formation of Ni single atoms coordinated to the heptazine-constituted CN network. The presence of uniform catalytic sites improved visible absorption and carrier separation in densely populated NiCN SAC resulting in 100% selective photoconversion of (CH4) to methanol using H2O2 as an oxidant. The superior catalytic activity can be attributed to the generation of high oxidation (NiIIIâO) sites and selective CâH bond cleavage to generate â¢CH3 radicals on Ni centers, which can combine with â¢OH radicals to generate CH3OH.
RESUMO
Four novel Co(II) coordination compounds 1-4 of the general formula [Co(Ln)2][Co(NCY)4]·mCH3CN (where Ln are tridentate ligands L1 = 2,6-bis(1-hexyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine for 1 and 2; L2 = 2,6-bis(1-octyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine for 3; L3 = 2,6-bis(1-dodecyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine for 4, Y = O for 1, 3, and 4 and Y = S for 2; m = 0 for 1 and 3, m = 0.5 for 2 and m = 2 for 4) were prepared and characterised. The molecular structures of all four compounds consist of the hexacoordinate complex cation [Co(Ln)2]2+ and tetracoordinate complex anion [Co(NCY)4]2-, with distorted octahedral and tetrahedral symmetry of coordination polyhedra, respectively. The electronic structures of all compounds feature an orbitally non-degenerate ground state well-separated from the lowest excited state, which allows the analysis of the magnetic anisotropy by the spin Hamiltonian model. ZFS parameters, derived from both CASSCF-NEVPT2 calculations and magnetic data analysis, indicate that tetrahedral anions [Co(NCY)4]2- exhibit small axial parameters |D| spanning the range of 2.2 to 7.7 cm-1, while octahedral cations [Co(Ln)2]2+ display significantly larger |D| parameters in the range of 37 to 95 cm-1. For 1-3, the Fourier-transform infrared magnetic spectroscopy (FIRMS) revealed a reasonable transmission with a magnetic absorption around the expected value for the ZFS accompanied by features allowing to identify phonon frequencies and simulate spin-phonon couplings. Dynamic magnetic investigations unveiled the field-induced slow relaxation of magnetisation, with maximal relaxation times (τ) of 92(2) µs for 2 at 2 K and BDC = 0.3 T. The temperature evolution of τ was analysed using a combination of Orbach, direct and Raman relaxations (Ueff = 8(1) K (5.6 cm-1)) or Orbach, direct and spin-phonon induced relaxations (Ueff = 10.3(9) K (7.2 cm-1)). The rest of the complexes, namely 1, 3, and 4 show field-induced slow relaxation of magnetisation with τ smaller than 16 µs.