Bio-Inspired Self-Activating Polydimethylsiloxane-Modified CrOx/Al2O3 Catalyst for Acetylene Semihydrogenation

Biomimetic approach is a nature-driven strategy for designing functional materials to meet the industrial challenges. Here we demonstrate the bio-inspired discovery of a self-activating catalyst, with polydimethylsiloxane anchored over the surface of CrO_x/Al₂O₃, exhibiting comparable performance with noble metallic catalysts for acetylene semihydrogenation. In addition, the dynamic movement of polymer chains with high flexibility renders the catalyst to impose proactive perturbation to the undesired coke precursors generated in reaction, analogous to the function of hair-like cilia on the surface of respiratory epithelial cells, thus avoiding the site-blocking induced by carbonaceous deposits and sustaining the catalyst stable for 1000 h without any deactivation. This study paves the way to develop other heterogeneous catalysts with high efficiency and durability via mimicking the innate defense mechanism of natural organisms.