Stable Cu Catalysts Supported by Two-dimensional SiO2 with Strong Metal–Support Interaction

Cu-based catalysts exhibit excellent performance in hydrogenation reactions. However, the poor stability of Cu catalysts under high temperatures has restricted their practical applications. The preparation of stable Cu catalysts supported by SiO 2 with strong metal–support interaction (SMSI) has thus aroused great interest due to the high abundance, low toxicity, feasible processability, and low cost of SiO 2 . The challenge in the construction of such SMSI remains to be the inertness of SiO 2 . Herein, a simple and scalable method is developed to prepare 2D silica (2DSiO 2 ) supported Cu catalysts with SMSI by carefully manipulating the topological exfoliation of CaSi 2 with CuCl 2 and thereafter calcination. The prepared Cu-2DSiO 2 catalysts with the unique encapsulated Cu nanoparticles exhibit excellent activity and long-term stability in high-temperature CO 2 hydrogenation reactions. This feasible and low-cost solution for stabilizing Cu catalysts might shed light on their realistic applications.