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PreprintCC BYChemRxiv

Light-assisted bifunctionality in CuPt single-atom alloys for propane dehydroaromatization

  • Yicheng Wang1,2
  • Moumita Kar1,2
  • Emma-Rose Newmeyer1,2
  • Zachary A. Long1,2
  • Minjung Kim1,2
  • Matthew Hershey1,2
  • Yixuan Shi1,2
  • Jamie D. North1,2
  • Guanyu Lu3,2
  • Selim Alayoglu4
  • Gengnan Li5,6
  • Omar K Farha1,2,3
2 more authors
  • George C. Schatz1,2,3
  • Dayne F. Swearer1,2,3
6 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Chemistry
  2. 2Northwestern University
  3. 3Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
  4. 4Center for Catalysis and Surface Science, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, USA, 60208
  5. 5Center for Nanoscale Materials
  6. 6Argonne National Laboratory
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Abstract

Dilute plasmonic alloys offer a route to couple light harvesting with site-specific surface chemistry, but how host and dopant sites cooperate during multi-step hydrocarbon transformations remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that silica-supported CuPt single-atom alloys decouple the elementary steps of propane dehydroaromatization. The Cu host promotes visible light-assisted C-C coupling of C3 intermediates, but Cu remains inactive for direct alkane C-H activation. Introducing atomically dispersed Pt in Cu unlocks propane dehydrogenation and enables a parallel aromatization pathway to benzene under illumination. Isotopic labeling, wavelength- and power-dependent kinetics, catalyst comparisons, and theoretical modeling support a bifunctional mechanism in which Pt sites generate dehydrogenated C3 intermediates, the Cu host facilitates C-C coupling, and the Cu-Pt interface promotes cyclization. These results establish light-assisted single-atom/host cooperation as a design principle for plasmonic alkane upgrading.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{wang2026lightassisted,
  title = {{Light-assisted bifunctionality in CuPt single-atom alloys for propane dehydroaromatization}},
  author = {Yicheng Wang and Moumita Kar and Emma-Rose Newmeyer and Zachary A. Long and Minjung Kim and Matthew Hershey and Yixuan Shi and Jamie D. North and Guanyu Lu and Selim Alayoglu and Gengnan Li and Omar K Farha and George C. Schatz and Dayne F. Swearer},
  howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15010424/v1},
  url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010424/v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Light-assisted bifunctionality in CuPt single-atom alloys for propane dehydroaromatization
AU  - Yicheng Wang
AU  - Moumita Kar
AU  - Emma-Rose Newmeyer
AU  - Zachary A. Long
AU  - Minjung Kim
AU  - Matthew Hershey
AU  - Yixuan Shi
AU  - Jamie D. North
AU  - Guanyu Lu
AU  - Selim Alayoglu
AU  - Gengnan Li
AU  - Omar K Farha
AU  - George C. Schatz
AU  - Dayne F. Swearer
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/13
PB  - ChemRxiv
DO  - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15010424/v1
UR  - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010424/v1
AB  - Dilute plasmonic alloys offer a route to couple light harvesting with site-specific surface chemistry, but how host and dopant sites cooperate during multi-step hydrocarbon transformations remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that silica-supported CuPt single-atom alloys decouple the elementary steps of propane dehydroaromatization. The Cu host promotes visible light-assisted C-C coupling of C3 intermediates, but Cu remains inactive for direct alkane C-H activation. Introducing atomically dispersed Pt in Cu unlocks propane dehydrogenation and enables a parallel aromatization pathway to benzene under illumination. Isotopic labeling, wavelength- and power-dependent kinetics, catalyst comparisons, and theoretical modeling support a bifunctional mechanism in which Pt sites generate dehydrogenated C3 intermediates, the Cu host facilitates C-C coupling, and the Cu-Pt interface promotes cyclization. These results establish light-assisted single-atom/host cooperation as a design principle for plasmonic alkane upgrading.
ER  -