Molten Sn solvent expands liquid metal catalysis

JM Tang and N Meftahi and AJ Christofferson and J Sun and RH Yu and MA Rahim and JB Tang and GZ Mao and T Daeneke and RB Kaner and SP Russo and K Kalantar-Zadeh, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 16, 907 (2025).

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56222-0

Regulating favorable assemblies of metallic atoms in the liquid state provides promise for catalyzing various chemical reactions. Expanding the selection of metallic solvents, especially those with unique properties and low cost, enables access to distinctive fluidic atomic structures on the surface of liquid alloys and offers economic feasibility. Here, Sn solvent, as a low-cost commodity, supports unique atomic assemblies at the interface of molten SnIn0.1034Cu0.0094, which are highly selective for H-2 synthesis from hydrocarbons. Atomistic simulations reveal that distinctive adsorption patterns with hexadecane can be established with Cu transiently reaching the interfacial layer, ensuring an energy-favorable route for H-2 generation. Experiments with a natural oil as feedstock underscore this approach's performance, producing 1.2 x 10(-4) mol/min of H-2 with 5.0 g of catalyst at similar to 93.0% selectivity while offering reliable scalability and durability at 260 degrees C. This work presents an alternative avenue of tuning fluidic atomic structures, broadening the applications of liquid metals. Similar

Return to Publications page