Rare Earth Oxide Anchored Platinum Catalytic Site Coated Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks toward Enhancing Selective Hydrogenation

Controlling and manipulating the self-assembly technology at the nanoscale has become a powerful strategy for improving chemical processes and further developing the conception of atom efficiency. Herein, an unexpected core–shell structured Gd2O3@Pt@ZIF-8 nanoreactor has been fabricated using the self-assembly strategy in which the firm Gd2O3 nanosupport anchored the highly active Pt nanoparticle coated porous zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8). The well-designed Gd2O3@Pt@ZIF-8 structure shows good performance in selective hydrogenation of aldehyde-, keto-, and nitro-compounds with full conversion (>99.9%) and superior selectivity (>95%). It showed the channel sieving effect of the ZIF-8 channels toward enhancing the catalytic selectivity. After being recycled eight times, their activity remains unchanged and their core–shell structure is kept intact. So, the outer ZIF-8 membranes not only prevent Pt nanoparticles from agglomeration and slipping during a catalytic reaction but also maintain the original activity and long-term stability compared to the Gd2O3@Pt catalyst. The self-assembly strategy demonstrated here will allow the development of other highly active, stable, and selective catalysts for important but challenging transformations.