Thermally induced intermetallic Rh1Zn1 nanoparticles with high phase-purity for highly selective hydrogenation of acetylene

Ordered M1Zn1 intermetallic phases with structurally isolated atom sites offer unique electronic and geometric structures for catalytic applications, but lack reliable industrial synthesis methods that avoid forming a disordered alloy with ill-defined composition. We developed a facile strategy for preparing well-defined M1Zn1 intermetallic nanoparticle (i-NP) catalysts from physical mixtures of monometallic M/SiO2 (M = Rh, Pd, Pt) and ZnO. The Rh1Zn1 i-NPs with structurally isolated Rh atom sites had a high intrinsic selectivity to ethylene (91%) with extremely low C4 and oligomer formation, outperforming the reported intermetallic and alloy catalysts in acetylene semihydrogenation. Further studies revealed that the M1Zn1 phases were formed in situ in a reducing atmosphere at 400 °C by a Zn atom emitting–trapping–ordering (Zn-ETO) mechanism, which ensures the high phase-purity of i-NPs. This study provides a scalable and practical solution for further exploration of Zn-based intermetallic phases and a new strategy for designing Zn-containing catalysts.