Hydrogen spillover and storage on graphene with single-site Ti catalysts

TL;DR

This study investigates how single-site titanium catalysts on graphene facilitate hydrogen spillover and storage, revealing partial hydrogenation of graphene and a storage capacity of 1.11 wt%, advancing catalyst design strategies.

Contribution

It provides new insights into hydrogen spillover mechanisms on inert carbon supports using synchrotron radiation techniques, highlighting the role of Ti single-site catalysts.

Findings

Partial graphene hydrogenation observed via bandgap opening and C-H bond formation.

Hydrogen storage capacity of 1.11 wt% achieved with Ti catalysts.

Ti atoms tend to aggregate into nanoclusters with increased H2 exposure.

Abstract

Hydrogen spillover and storage for single-site metal catalysts, including single-atom catalysts (SACs) and single nanocluster catalysts, have been elucidated for various supports but remain poorly understood for inert carbon supports. Here, we use synchrotron radiation-based methods to investigate the role of single-site Ti catalysts on graphene for hydrogen spillover and storage. Our in-situ angle-resolved photoemission spectra results demonstrate a bandgap opening and the X-ray absorption spectra reveal the formation of C-H bonds, both indicating the partial graphene hydrogenation. With increasing Ti deposition and H2 exposure, the Ti atoms tend to aggregate to form nanocluster catalysts and yield 13.5% sp3-hybridized carbon atoms corresponding to a hydrogen-storage capacity of 1.11 wt% (excluding the weight of the Ti nanoclusters [1]). Our results demonstrate how a simple spillover process at Ti SACs can lead to covalent hydrogen bonding on graphene, thereby providing a strategy for a rational design of carbon-supported single-site catalysts.