An all-in-one zeolite@Ru–Al2O3 nanoplatform toward highly efficient, anti-coking, and recyclable hydrocarbon cracking catalysis

Efficient utilization of hydrocarbon fuels holds great significance for the current vehicle low-emission requirements and future carbon-neutral society. However, the scenario that limits the effective fuel use and combustion is the present undesirable hydrocarbon-cracking catalysts of low activity, serious coking, and easy degradation. To tackle these issues, we rationally designed and synthesized an active, anti-coking, and recyclable all-in-one [email protected]–Al2O3 catalyst on FeCrAl support by steam-assisted crystallization and atomic layer deposition. Ru nanoclusters dispersedly on ZSM-5 can boost the catalytic efficiency for hydrocarbon cracking and anti-coking, while the protective Al2O3 thin layers further ensure the reusable economy. As for n-dodecane (C12H26) cracking reaction, the [email protected]–Al2O3 showed a high unit activity up to 0.1253%·ml·mg−1·min−1, low-carbon deposition rate, and the enhanced first-cycle carbon removal rate of 78.3% for recyclable use. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have further confirmed that high catalytic efficiency and low-carbon deposition benefit from the timely adsorption of C12H26 and timely transfer of reactant products at the composite interface. This work opens interesting possibilities for the rational design and fabrication of high-efficient, anti-coking, and recyclable hydrocarbon cracking catalysts through multifunctional structural regulations.