Engineering Lewis-Acid Defects on ZnO Quantum Dots by Trace Transition-Metal Single Atoms for High Glycerol-to-Glycerol Carbonate Conversion

Efficient conversion of biomass wastes into valuable chemicals has been regarded as a sustainable approach for green and circular economy. Herein, a highly efficient catalytic conversion of glycerol (Gly) into glycerol carbonate (GlyC) by carbonylation with the commercially available urea is presented using low-cost transition metal single atoms supported on zinc oxide quantum dots (M1-ZnO QDs) as a catalyst without using any solvent. A facile one-step wet chemical synthesis allows various types of metal single atoms to simultaneously dope and introduce Lewis-acid defects in the ZnO QD structure. It is found that doping with a trace amount of isolated metal atoms greatly boosts the catalytic activity with Gly conversion of 90.7%, GlyC selectivity of 100.0%, and GlyC yield of 90.6%. Congruential results from both Density Functional Theory (DFT) and in situ Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (in situ DRIFTS) studies reveal that the superior catalytic performance can be attributed to the enriched Lewis acid sites that endow optimal adsorption, formation of the intermediate for coupling between urea and Gly, and desorption of GlyC. Moreover, the tiny size of ZnO QDs efficiently promotes the accessibility of these active sites to the reactants. Lewis-acid defects in ZnO quantum dots are induced by doping a trace quantity of isolated transition-metal atoms via one-step wet chemical synthesis. They greatly promote adsorption and carbonylation between urea and glycerol, leading to unprecedentedly high glycerol carbonate yield and selectivity of approximate to 90% and 100%, respectively, without using any solvent. image