A highly efficient and regenerable Ir1–Cu1 dual-atom catalyst for low-temperature alkane dehydrogenation

Alkane dehydrogenation as a direct route to produce olefins receives widespread attention from industry and academia. However, high temperatures (>550 °C) are often needed to break C–H bonds, leading to deleterious side reactions in the alkane dehydrogenation process. Here we reduce the reaction temperature of n-butane dehydrogenation by fabricating a robust and regenerable Ir₁–Cu₁ dual-atom catalyst. The so-prepared system shows a turnover frequency of 2.45 s⁻¹ at 450 °C, which is 6.3 times higher than the single-atom Ir₁/ND@G catalyst, while, at he same time, achieving a high C₄ olefin selectivity of 98%. Importantly, key for the success of the Ir₁–Cu₁ dual-atom catalyst are the sterically favourable geometric configuration and the modulated electronic property, which can lower the reaction barrier for C–H activation, shift the rate-determining step and facilitate the desorption of the product. Thus, a remarkable activity can be achieved for n-butane dehydrogenation at relatively low temperature (≤450 °C).