Intentional (“on-purpose”) propylene production through nonoxidative propane dehydrogenation (PDH) holds great promise for meeting the increasing global demand for propylene. For stable performance, traditional alumina-supported platinum-based catalysts require excess tin and feed dilution with hydrogen; however, this reduces per-pass propylene conversion and thus lowers catalyst productivity. We report that silica-supported platinum-tin (Pt₁Sn₁) nanoparticles (<2 nanometers in diameter) can operate as a PDH catalyst at thermodynamically limited conversion levels, with excellent stability and selectivity to propylene (>99%). Atomic mixing of Pt and Sn in the precursor is preserved upon reduction and during catalytic operation. The benign interaction of these nanoparticles with the silicon dioxide support does not lead to Pt-Sn segregation and formation of a tin oxide phase that can occur over traditional catalyst supports.

通过非氧化丙烷脱氢 (PDH) 有意（“有目的的”）丙烯生产对于满足全球日益增长的丙烯需求具有广阔的前景。为了性能稳定，传统的氧化铝负载铂基催化剂需要过量的锡和用氢气稀释原料；然而，这会降低单程丙烯转化率，从而降低催化剂生产率。我们报告说，二氧化硅负载的铂锡（Pt ₁ Sn ₁) 纳米粒子（直径 <2 纳米）可以作为 PDH 催化剂在热力学有限的转化水平下运行，具有出色的稳定性和对丙烯的选择性（>99%）。在还原和催化操作过程中，前体中 Pt 和 Sn 的原子混合得以保持。这些纳米颗粒与二氧化硅载体的良性相互作用不会导致 Pt-Sn 偏析和氧化锡相的形成，这可能会发生在传统催化剂载体上。