In situ thermolysis of Pt-carbonyl complex to form supported clean Pt nanoclusters with enhanced catalytic performance

Clean Pt nanoclusters with a diameter of 1.0–2.4 nm, supported on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets, were successfully synthesized by simple in situ thermolysis of a Pt-carbonyl complex. The supported Pt nanoclusters are in an electron-deficient state because of the electron transfer between the nanoclusters and the rGO sheets. The as-prepared Pt-1 nm/rGO shows high catalytic activity for the 100% selective hydrogenation of nitrobenzene, with the turnover frequency (TOF) reaching 975.4 h −1 at 25°C and 1 atm. This number is higher than the previously reported value for the heterogeneously catalyzed hydrogenation of nitrobenzene. The proposed process follows a direct hydrogenation mechanism, as is revealed by the analyses of the intermediate products. This work presents a facile and effective synthetic approach for achieving highly efficient nanocatalysts, and can be extended to obtain other metal catalysts with ultra-small sizes and excellent performance.