Site-Engineered Single-Atom Cu on ZnO Nanosheets for Efficient Ethane-to-Ethylene Photodehydrogenation

Abstract

Photocatalytic ethane (C2H6) dehydrogenation (EDH) offers a sustainable pathway for the direct production of ethylene (C2H4) under mild conditions. However, its efficiency is fundamentally limited by rapid charge recombination, as well as the lack of a synergistic catalytic architecture that integrates targeted sites for both C–H bond activation and dehydrogenation of C2H6 in conventional photocatalysts. Herein, we report a site-engineered Cu single-atom catalyst anchored on ZnO nanosheets (Cu1/ZnO) that realizes C2H6-to-C2H4 conversion along with stoichiometric coproduction of hydrogen (H2), with performance comparable to many documented noble-metal-based photocatalytic EDH systems. Mechanistic studies reveal that photoinduced Zn+–O– pairs facilitate the cleavage of C–H bonds in C2H6, while the adjacent Cu single atoms function dually as effective electron acceptors to promote charge separation/transfer and as active sites for H2 evolution. The synergistic interplay between these two distinct catalytic sites contributes to efficient C2H4 production. This work demonstrates the promise of precisely engineered single-atom catalytic environments for efficient conversion of alkanes.