Metal particle size effects over the Ni/SAPO-11 bifunctional catalyst

The prominent size effects of metal nanoparticles (NPs) are mainly reflected in the change of electronic and geometric properties, which may induce distinct catalytic performance of the catalyst. Herein, Ni/SAPO-11 bifunctional catalysts with controllable sizes of Ni NPs were synthesized to investigate the particle size effects in n-hexane hydroisomerization. The results show that decreasing Ni particle size from 11.7 to 5.3 nm increases the concentration of surface Ni atoms and the proportion of low-coordinated Ni sites (corner, step sites) by 1.7 and 1.5 times, respectively. The low-coordinated surface Ni atoms have rich dangling bonds and high surface energy, resulting in greatly improved H2 adsorption and activation abilities. Moreover, an increased proportion of low-coordinated Ni sites within the Ni cluster shifts the d-band center upward, further enhancing the adsorption and activation of reactants. The intrinsic catalytic activity (turnover frequency) of 5.3 nm Ni NPs is ca. 2 times as much as that of the 11.7 nm ones. Besides, the smaller Ni NPs enhanced the metal–acid synergy, leading to a higher selectivity to isomers. This work provides deep insights into the metal particle size effects over the bifunctional Ni/SAPO-11 hydroisomerization catalysts and can be extended to various metal supported catalysts.