Interfacial engineering of MOF-derived Ni/ZnO heterostructures for enhanced acetylene semi-hydrogenation selectivity

The highly selective semi-hydrogenation of acetylene in ethylene-rich streams is essential for polyethylene production. However, environmentally friendly non-precious metal catalysts are often limited by the difficulty of balancing activity and selectivity. This study employed a facile in-situ pyrolysis strategy of MOFs to successfully prepare a Ni/ [email protected] heterojunction catalyst. This catalyst exhibited outstanding performance in acetylene semi-hydrogenation, achieving an acetylene conversion of 96.16 % and ethylene selectivity of 87.22 %. Mechanistic studies revealed that its superior performance originates from highly dispersed H 2 activation sites and a unique interfacial synergistic effect. On the one hand, the strong interfacial interaction formed between Ni and ZnO not only significantly enhances the dispersion and air stability of the active Ni 0 species but also effectively promotes the activation and dissociation of H 2 molecules. On the other hand, the electron reconstruction induced by the Ni/ZnO interface significantly reduces the energy barrier of the rate-determining step promotes the rapid desorbed of the product ethylene, and inhibits excessive hydrogenation. This work provides a novel heterojunction engineering strategy for designing highly efficient, stable, and sustainable non-noble metal selective hydrogenation catalysts.