Lattice-Confined single cobalt atom in ZrO2 for propane non-oxidative dehydrogenation

• Lattice-confined single atom Co-ZrO 2 catalyst was prepared by selective etching method. • Co single atoms exhibit better catalytic performance than polymerized CoO x species. • The highly dispersed Co atoms increase the Co-O-Zr sites and decrease harmful Co-O-Co sites compared with polymerized CoO x species. • The lattice-confined effect of ZrO 2 prevents deactivation of Co single atoms. The single atom sites have been identified as the optimal structure for structure-insensitive alkane dehydrogenation reaction. However, single atoms with high surface energy suffer from sintering deactivation due to high-temperature conditions. Herein, we report the single cobalt (Co) atoms confined by the ZrO 2 lattice for the propane non-oxidative dehydrogenation (PDH) reaction. Compared with surface Co species, the lattice-confined effect of ZrO 2 basement prevents the structural transformation of single Co atoms and enriches the active site of Co-O-Zr. The Co single-atom catalyst shows remarkable activity (1.58 mmol g -1 h −1 ) and achieves significantly more substantial regeneration stability than the catalysts with surface CoO x species. The research on lattice-confined Co-ZrO 2 catalysts provides a novel cognition for the lattice-confined effect and gives opportunities for the application of thermodynamically stable single-atom catalysts in the future.