Facile Synthesis of Kilogram-Scale Co-Alloyed Pt Single-Atom Catalysts via Ball Milling for Hydrodeoxygenation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural

Catalytic conversion of biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) into high-quality biofuel 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) is significant for the utilization of biomass but remains a substantial challenge. Herein, we report a straightforward, eco-friendly, and scalable ball milling method for the synthesis of Co-alloyed Pt (Pt1/Co) single-atom alloy (SAA) catalysts at kilogram levels. The catalysts exhibit superior catalytic performance for the hydrodeoxygenation of HMF to DMF, obtaining 100% HMF conversion and 92.9% selectivity to DMF under 1.0 MPa H2 at 180 °C for 2 h. The reaction pathway is also investigated, which shows that the hydrogenolysis of the C═O bond in HMF to form 2,5-dihydroxymethylfuran is the main route during the hydrodeoxygenation and promoted by the synergistic effect of Pt and Co. Pt1/Co SAA catalysts display excellent stability without aggregation after five successive runs. More inspiringly, our method achieves the mass production of Pt1/Co at the kilogram scale, rendering its potential for practical applications. Moreover, by varying acetylacetonate precursors, we show the general synthesis of different Co-supported noble metal SAA catalysts (M1/Co, M = Pd, Ru, Ir, and Rh). Our findings not only offer a facile and readily scalable synthetic approach of SAA catalysts but also open new avenue to the exploitation of biomass.