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Single atoms and few-atom clusters of platinum are uniformly installed on the zirconia nodes of a metal-organic framework (MOF) NU-1000 via targeted vapor-phase synthesis. The catalytic Pt clusters, site-isolated by organic linkers, are shown to exhibit high catalytic activity for ethylene hydrogenation while exhibiting resistance to sintering up to 200 °C. In situ IR spectroscopy reveals the presence of both single atoms and few-atom clusters that depend upon synthesis conditions. Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray pair distribution analyses reveal unique changes in chemical bonding environment and cluster size stability while on stream. Density functional theory calculations elucidate a favorable reaction pathway for ethylene hydrogenation with the novel catalyst. These results provide evidence that atomic layer deposition (ALD) in MOFs is a versatile approach to the rational synthesis of size-selected clusters, including noble metals, on a high surface area support.

A coverage-dependent, mean-field microkinetic model of catalytic NO oxidation, NO+0.5O 2 ⇌NO 2 , at a Pt(111) surface has been developed, based on large supercell density functional theory (DFT) calculations. DFT is used to determine the overall energetics and activation energies of candidate reaction steps as a function of surface coverage. Surface coverage is found to have a significant but non-uniform effect on the energetics, pathways, and activation energies of reaction steps involving formation or cleavage of ON—O and O=O bonds, and inclusion of this coverage dependence is essential for obtaining a qualitatively correct representation of the catalysis. Correlations are used to express all reaction parameters in terms of a single coverage variable θ and steady-state solutions to the resultant mean-field models are obtained in the method of DeDonder relations. At conditions representative of NO oxidation catalysis, the surface coverage is predicted to be 0.25 ≤ θ ≤ 0.4 ML and to be controlled by equilibrium between gas-phase NO and NO 2 and chemisorbed O. O 2 dissociative adsorption (O 2(g) →2O*) is rate limiting in the model. The DFT-based mean-field model captures many features of the experimentally observed catalysis, and its short-comings point the way toward more robust models of coverage-dependent kinetics.