Maximizing the Number of Interfacial Sites in Single‐Atom Catalysts for the Highly Selective,Solvent‐Free Oxidation of Primary Alcohols

The solvent‐free selective oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes with molecular oxygen is highly attractive yet challenging. Interfacial sites between a metal and an oxide support are crucial in determining the activity and selectivity of such heterogeneous catalysts. Herein, we demonstrate that the use of supported single‐atom catalysts (SACs) leads to high activity and selectivity in this reaction. The significantly increased number of interfacial sites, resulting from the presence of individually dispersed metal atoms on the support, renders SACs one or two orders of magnitude more active than the corresponding nanoparticle (NP) catalysts. Lattice oxygen atoms activated at interfacial sites were found to be more selective than O₂ activated on metal NPs in oxidizing the alcohol substrate. This work demonstrates for the first time that the number of interfacial sites is maximized in SACs, providing a new avenue for improving catalytic performance by developing appropriate SACs for alcohol oxidation and other reactions occurring at metal–support interfacial sites.     

One‐Pot Cooperation of Single‐Atom Rh and Ru Solid Catalysts for a Selective Tandem Olefin Isomerization‐Hydrosilylation Process

Realizing the full potential of oxide‐supported single‐atom metal catalysts (SACs) is key to successfully bridge the gap between the fields of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Here we show that the one‐pot combination of Ru₁/CeO₂ and Rh₁/CeO₂ SACs enables a highly selective olefin isomerization‐hydrosilylation tandem process, hitherto restricted to molecular catalysts in solution. Individually, monoatomic Ru and Rh sites show a remarkable reaction specificity for olefin double‐bond migration and anti‐Markovnikov α‐olefin hydrosilylation, respectively. First‐principles DFT calculations ascribe such selectivity to differences in the binding strength of the olefin substrate to the monoatomic metal centers. The single‐pot cooperation of the two SACs allows the production of terminal organosilane compounds with high regio‐selectivity (>95 %) even from industrially‐relevant complex mixtures of terminal and internal olefins, alongside a straightforward catalyst recycling and reuse. These results demonstrate the significance of oxide‐supported single‐atom metal catalysts in tandem catalytic reactions, which are central for the intensification of chemical processes.     

Coordination Tunes Selectivity: Two‐Electron Oxygen Reduction on High‐Loading Molybdenum Single‐Atom Catalysts

Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) have great potential in electrocatalysis. Their performance can be rationally optimized by tailoring the metal atoms, adjacent coordinative dopants, and metal loading. However, doing so is still a great challenge because of the limited synthesis approach and insufficient understanding of the structure–property relationships. Herein, we report a new kind of Mo SAC with a unique O,S coordination and a high metal loading over 10 wt %. The isolation and local environment was identified by high‐angle annular dark‐field scanning transmission electron microscopy and extended X‐ray absorption fine structure. The SACs catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) via a 2 e^? pathway with a high H₂O₂ selectivity of over 95 % in 0.10 m KOH. The critical role of the Mo single atoms and the coordination structure was revealed by both electrochemical tests and theoretical calculations.     

Non‐metal Single‐Iodine‐Atom Electrocatalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Common‐metal‐based single‐atom catalysts (SACs) are quite difficult to design due to the complex synthesis processes required. Herein, we report a single‐atom nickel iodide (SANi‐I) electrocatalyst with atomically dispersed non‐metal iodine atoms. The SANi‐I is prepared via a simple calcination step in a vacuum‐sealed ampoule and subsequent cyclic voltammetry activation. Aberration‐corrected high‐angle annular dark‐field scanning transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron‐based X‐ray absorption spectroscopy are applied to confirm the atomic‐level dispersion of iodine atoms and detailed structure of SANi‐I. Single iodine atoms are found to be isolated by oxygen atoms. The SANi‐I is structural stable and shows exceptional electrocatalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In situ Raman spectroscopy reveals that the hydrogen adatom (H_ads) is adsorbed by a single iodine atom, forming the I‐H_ads intermediate, which promotes the HER process.     

Regulating the Coordination Environment of MOF‐Templated Single‐Atom Nickel Electrocatalysts for Boosting CO2 Reduction

The general synthesis and control of the coordination environment of single‐atom catalysts (SACs) remains a great challenge. Herein, a general host–guest cooperative protection strategy has been developed to construct SACs by introducing polypyrrole (PPy) into a bimetallic metal–organic framework. As an example, the introduction of Mg²⁺ in MgNi‐MOF‐74 extends the distance between adjacent Ni atoms; the PPy guests serve as N source to stabilize the isolated Ni atoms during pyrolysis. As a result, a series of single‐atom Ni catalysts (named Ni_SA‐N_x‐C) with different N coordination numbers have been fabricated by controlling the pyrolysis temperature. Significantly, the Ni_SA‐N₂‐C catalyst, with the lowest N coordination number, achieves high CO Faradaic efficiency (98 %) and turnover frequency (1622 h^?1), far superior to those of Ni_SA‐N₃‐C and Ni_SA‐N₄‐C, in electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction. Theoretical calculations reveal that the low N coordination number of single‐atom Ni sites in Ni_SA‐N₂‐C is favorable to the formation of COOH* intermediate and thus accounts for its superior activity.     

Single‐Atom Cr−N4 Sites Designed for Durable Oxygen Reduction Catalysis in Acid Media

Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) are attracting widespread interest for the catalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), with Fe?N_x SACs exhibiting the most promising activity. However, Fe‐based catalysts suffer serious stability issues as a result of oxidative corrosion through the Fenton reaction. Herein, using a metal‐organic framework as an anchoring matrix, we for the first time obtained pyrolyzed Cr/N/C SACs for the ORR, where the atomically dispersed Cr is confirmed to have a Cr?N₄ coordination structure. The Cr/N/C catalyst exhibits excellent ORR activity with an optimal half‐wave potential of 0.773 V versus RHE. More excitingly, the Fenton reaction is substantially reduced and, thus, the final catalysts show superb stability. The innovative and robust active site for the ORR opens a new possibility to circumvent the stability issue of the non‐noble metal ORR catalysts.     

Geometrical Structure of the Gold–Iron(III) Oxide Interfacial Perimeter for CO Oxidation

The geometrical structure of the Au‐Fe₂O₃ interfacial perimeter, which is generally considered as the active sites for low‐temperature oxidation of CO, was examined. It was found that the activity of the Au/Fe₂O₃ catalysts not only depends on the number of the gold atoms at the interfacial perimeter but also strongly depends on the geometrical structure of these gold atoms, which is determined by the size of the gold particle. Aberration‐corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy images unambiguously suggested that the gold particles, transformed from a two‐dimensional flat shape to a well‐faceted truncated octahedron when the size slightly enlarged from 2.2 to 3.5 nm. Such a size‐induced shape evolution altered the chemical bonding environments of the gold atoms at the interfacial perimeters and consequently their catalytic activity. For Au particles with a mean size of 2.2 nm, the interfacial perimeter gold atoms possessed a higher degree of unsaturated coordination environment while for Au particles with a mean size of 3.5 nm the perimeter gold atoms mainly followed the atomic arrangements of Au {111} and {100} facets. Kinetic study, with respect to the reaction rate and the turnover frequency on the interfacial perimeter gold atom, found that the low‐coordinated perimeter gold atoms were intrinsically more active for CO oxidation. ¹⁸O isotopic titration and Infrared spectroscopy experiments verified that CO oxidation at room temperature occurred at the Au‐Fe₂O₃ interfacial perimeter, involving the participation of the lattice oxygen of Fe₂O₃ for activating O₂ and the gold atoms for CO adsorption and activation.     

Investigation of the Support Effect in Atomically Dispersed Pt on WO3−x for Utilization of Pt in the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) have attracted growing attention because they maximize the number of active sites, with unpredictable catalytic activity. Despite numerous studies on SACs, there is little research on the support, which is essential to understanding SAC. Herein, we systematically investigated the influence of the support on the performance of the SAC by comparing with single‐atom Pt supported on carbon (Pt SA/C) and Pt nanoparticles supported on WO_3?x (Pt NP/WO_3?x). The results revealed that the support effect was maximized for atomically dispersed Pt supported on WO_3?x (Pt SA/WO_3?x). The Pt SA/WO_3?x exhibited a higher degree of hydrogen spillover from Pt atoms to WO_3?x at the interface, compared with Pt NP/WO_3?x, which drastically enhanced Pt mass activity for hydrogen evolution (up to 10 times). This strategy provides a new framework for enhancing catalytic activity for HER, by reducing noble metal usage in the field of SACs.     

Engineering the Coordination Environment of Single‐Atom Platinum Anchored on Graphdiyne for Optimizing Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Two Pt single‐atom catalysts (SACs) of Pt‐GDY1 and Pt‐GDY2 were prepared on graphdiyne (GDY)supports. The isolated Pt atoms are dispersed on GDY through the coordination interactions between Pt atoms and alkynyl C atoms in GDY, with the formation of five‐coordinated C₁‐Pt‐Cl₄ species in Pt‐GDY1 and four‐coordinated C₂‐Pt‐Cl₂ species in Pt‐GDY2. Pt‐GDY2 shows exceptionally high catalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), with a mass activity up to 3.3 and 26.9 times more active than Pt‐GDY1 and the state‐of‐the‐art commercial Pt/C catalysts, respectively. Pt‐GDY2 possesses higher total unoccupied density of states of Pt 5d orbital and close to zero value of Gibbs free energy of the hydrogen adsorption (|Δ |) at the Pt active sites, which are responsible for its excellent catalytic performance. This work can help better understand the structure–catalytic activity relationship in Pt SACs.     

单原子催化剂活化氢气:Pt1/WOx催化氢解反应（英文）

单原子催化剂具有独特的结构位点,能最大化利用贵金属原子,在一系列化学转化反应中具有优异的活性和选择性.但单原子的稳定性是单原子催化剂应用的一个挑战,特别是还原气氛下单原子的稳定性,这极大地限制了单原子催化剂在加氢、脱氢和氢解反应中的应用.理解还原气氛下单原子的稳定机制和单原子催化剂活化氢气的反应机理对于扩大单原子催化剂的应用非常重要.Pt/WOx(2Pd>Au.氢气能在Pd和WOx界面非均相解离,而Au/WOx不能活化、解离氢气.我们进一步采用实验表征验证了DFT理论计算的结果.实验合成了WOx负载的Pt、Pd、Au三种催化剂,X射线衍射(XRD)和透射电子显微镜(TEM)结果表明,Pt能在WOx表面原子级分散和稳定,而Pd在WOx表面形成较小的纳米颗粒,Au形成较大的纳米颗粒.采用氢气化学吸附研究了三种催化剂对氢气的活化能力,结果表明三种催化剂的氢气活化能力顺序为Pt/WOx(137μmol/g-Pt)>Pd/WOx(43μmol/g-Pd)>>Au/WOx(4μmol/g-Au).将三种催化剂用于甘油选择性氢解制备1,3-丙二醇的反应中,只有Pt/WOx催化剂对甘油氢解具有优异的活性和选择性.从而实验证实了氢气气氛下原位产生的Bronsted酸具有关键作用和Pt1/WOx催化剂具有双功能催化性质.我们的研究不仅解释了还原气氛下金属单原子在氧化物表面的稳定机理,而且对单原子催化剂活化解离氢气提供了新的认识.     

Knitting N‐doped Hierarchical Porous Polymers to Stabilize Ultra‐small Pd Nanoparticles for Solvent‐Free Catalysis

Hierarchical porous polymers with more than one pore size distributions can effectively support noble metal catalysts and circumvent the limitation of the diffusion of the reactants, and thus exhibit both excellent catalytic activity and superior diffusive properties. Herein, we report a simple one‐step Friedel–Crafts reaction to knit a series of benzene heterocycle monomers, such as indane, indoline, indole and tetrahydronaphthalene to obtain hierarchical porous polymers with high surface areas and/or abundant N sites. These polymers can be directly used to immobilize Pd ions, and stabilize Pd nanoparticles during the thermal reduction process to obtain Pd/polymer catalysts. In particular, indoline‐ and indole‐based polymers with high N content up to 7 wt % exhibit outstanding ability to stabilize uniform ultrasmall Pd nanoparticles. The obtained Pd‐polymers exhibit excellent catalytic activity in the solvent‐free oxidation of benzyl alcohol with O₂.     

The atomic-level regulation of single-atom site catalysts for the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction

The electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) is viewed as a promising way to remove the greenhouse gas CO₂ from the atmosphere and convert it into useful industrial products such as methane, methanol, formate, ethanol, and so forth. Single-atom site catalysts (SACs) featuring maximum theoretical atom utilization and a unique electronic structure and coordination environment have emerged as promising candidates for use in the CO₂RR. The electronic properties and atomic structures of the central metal sites in SACs will be changed significantly once the types or coordination environments of the central metal sites are altered, which appears to provide new routes for engineering SACs for CO₂ electrocatalysis. Therefore, it is of great importance to discuss the structural regulation of SACs at the atomic level and their influence on CO₂RR activity and selectivity. Despite substantial efforts being made to fabricate various SACs, the principles of regulating the intrinsic electrocatalytic performances of the single-atom sites still needs to be sufficiently emphasized. In this perspective article, we present the latest progress relating to the synthesis and catalytic performance of SACs for the electrochemical CO₂RR. We summarize the atomic-level regulation of SACs for the electrochemical CO₂RR from five aspects: the regulation of the central metal atoms, the coordination environments, the interface of single metal complex sites, multi-atom active sites, and other ingenious strategies to improve the performance of SACs. We highlight synthesis strategies and structural design approaches for SACs with unique geometric structures and discuss how the structure affects the catalytic properties.

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) is a promising way to remove CO₂ and convert it into useful industrial products. Single-atom site catalysts provide opportunities to regulate the active sites of CO₂RR catalysts at the atomic level.     

Controlling the Oxidation State of Pt Single Atoms for Maximizing Catalytic Activity

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have emerged as promising materials in heterogeneous catalysis. Previous studies reported controversial results about the relative level in activity for SACs and nanoparticles (NPs). These works have focused on the effect of metal atom arrangement, without considering the oxidation state of the SACs. Here, we immobilized Pt single atoms on defective ceria and controlled the oxidation state of Pt SACs, from highly oxidized (Pt⁰: 16.6 at %) to highly metallic states (Pt⁰: 83.8 at %). The Pt SACs with controlled oxidation states were then employed for oxidation of CO, CH₄, or NO, and their activities compared with those of Pt NPs. The highly oxidized Pt SACs presented poorer activities than Pt NPs, whereas metallic Pt SACs showed higher activities. The Pt SAC reduced at 300 °C showed the highest activity for all the oxidations. The Pt SACs with controlled oxidation states revealed a crucial missing link between activity and SACs.     

金属核及氧化铈的物理化学性质对一氧化碳氧化的影响

氧化铈独特的氧化还原性能使其适合用作氧化反应中的催化剂或载体.氧化铈负载的过渡金属纳米粒子或孤立的单原子提供了金属-载体界面,从而降低了去除界面氧原子的能耗,提供了可以参与ManVanKulvian氧化过程的活性氧物种.CO氧化是测试氧化铈负载催化剂还原性的主要探针反应,并且它常见于在相对低温下消除CO的各种应用中.在过量H2中优先氧化CO(PROX)反应可控制CO浓度达到超低水平,以防止氢氧化电催化剂中毒.催化剂在CO氧化反应中的活性和在PROX反应中对CO和H2的选择性取决于金属物种的种类和分散性、CeO2的结构和化学性质以及催化剂的合成方法.在这篇综述中,我们总结了最近发表的关于CeO2负载的金属纳米粒子和单原子催化CO氧化和PROX反应的相关工作;以及不同的负载金属和同种金属在普通CeO2表面上的反应性.我们还总结了密度泛函理论计算中提出的最可能的反应机理;并且讨论了各种负载型金属在PROX反应中影响CO氧化选择性的因素.     

Facile Synthesis Of Composition‐Controllable PtPdAuTe Nanowires As Superior Electrocatalysts For Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

Multicomponent Pt‐based nanowires (NWs) have attracted widespread attention as eletrocatalysts toward direct alcohol fuel cells because of their unique one‐dimensional structure and high reaction dynamics. Quaternary PtPdAuTe NWs are designed via a facile template method, and NWs with a different composition are obtained by adjusting the feed ratio of metal precursors. The direct displacement reaction of metal precursors with Te NWs and the partial oxidation of Te lead to the formation of quaternary NWs. The rough surface and abundant reactive sites deriving from the rearrangement of metal atoms on the Te NWs surface endow the PtPdAuTe NWs with a superior electrocatalytic property and durability for methanol oxidation. The Pt₂₀Pd₂₀Au₁₀Te₅₀ NWs display the largest mass activity and best stability among all catalysts. The preparation of PtPdAuTe NWs could provide a viable strategy for the preparation of other multicomponent NWs.     

Ordered Porous Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Matrix with Atomically Dispersed Cobalt Sites as an Efficient Catalyst for Dehydrogenation and Transfer Hydrogenation of N‐Heterocycles

Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) have been explored widely as potential substitutes for homogeneous catalysts. Isolated cobalt single‐atom sites were stabilized on an ordered porous nitrogen‐doped carbon matrix (ISAS‐Co/OPNC). ISAS‐Co/OPNC is a highly efficient catalyst for acceptorless dehydrogenation of N‐heterocycles to release H₂. ISAS‐Co/OPNC also exhibits excellent catalytic activity for the reverse transfer hydrogenation (or hydrogenation) of N‐heterocycles to store H₂, using formic acid or external hydrogen as a hydrogen source. The catalytic performance of ISAS‐Co/OPNC in both reactions surpasses previously reported homogeneous and heterogeneous precious‐metal catalysts. The reaction mechanisms are systematically investigated using first‐principles calculations and it is suggested that the Eley–Rideal mechanism is dominant.     

Stabilizing a Platinum1 Single‐Atom Catalyst on Supported Phosphomolybdic Acid without Compromising Hydrogenation Activity

In coordination chemistry, catalytically active metal complexes in a zero‐ or low‐valent state often adopt four‐coordinate square‐planar or tetrahedral geometry. By applying this principle, we have developed a stable Pt₁ single‐atom catalyst with a high Pt loading (close to 1 wt %) on phosphomolybdic acid(PMA)‐modified active carbon. This was achieved by anchoring Pt on the four‐fold hollow sites on PMA. Each Pt atom is stabilized by four oxygen atoms in a distorted square‐planar geometry, with Pt slightly protruding from the oxygen planar surface. Pt is positively charged, absorbs hydrogen easily, and exhibits excellent performance in the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene and cyclohexanone. It is likely that the system described here can be extended to a number of stable SACs with superior catalytic activities.     

Photocatalytic Free Radical-Controlled Synthesis of High-Performance Single-Atom Catalysts

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have emerged as crucial players in catalysis research, prompting extensive investigation and application. The precise control of metal atom nucleation and growth has garnered significant attention. In this study, we present a straightforward approach for preparing SACs utilizing a photocatalytic radical control strategy. Notably, we demonstrate for the first time that radicals generated during the photochemical process effectively hinder the aggregation of individual atoms. By leveraging the cooperative anchoring of nitrogen atoms and crystal lattice oxygen on the support, we successfully stabilize the single atom. Our Pd₁/TiO₂ catalysts exhibit remarkable catalytic activity and stability in the Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction, which was 43 times higher than Pd/C. Furthermore, we successfully depose Pd atoms onto various substrates, including TiO₂, CeO₂, and WO₃. The photocatalytic radical control strategy can be extended to other single-atom catalysts, such as Ir, Pt, Rh, and Ru, underscoring its broad applicability.     

Enhanced Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction to Carbon Monoxide over Defect‐Rich Plasma‐Activated Silver Catalysts

Efficient, stable catalysts with high selectivity for a single product are essential if electroreduction of CO₂ is to become a viable route to the synthesis of industrial feedstocks and fuels. A plasma oxidation pre‐treatment of silver foil enhances the number of low‐coordinated catalytically active sites, which dramatically lowers the overpotential and increases the activity of CO₂ electroreduction to CO. At −0.6 V versus RHE more than 90 % Faradaic efficiency towards CO was achieved on a pre‐oxidized silver foil. While transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and operando X‐ray absorption spectroscopy showed that oxygen species can survive in the bulk of the catalyst during the reaction, quasi in situ X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that the surface is metallic under reaction conditions. DFT calculations reveal that the defect‐rich surface of the plasma‐oxidized silver foils in the presence of local electric fields drastically decrease the overpotential of CO₂ electroreduction.     

Single‐Atom Iron Boosts Electrochemiluminescence

The traditional luminol–H₂O₂ electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensing platform suffers from self‐decomposition of H₂O₂ at room temperature, hampering its application for quantitative analysis. In this work, for the first time we employ iron single‐atom catalysts (Fe‐N‐C SACs) as an advanced co‐reactant accelerator to directly reduce the dissolved oxygen (O₂) to reactive oxygen species (ROS). Owing to the unique electronic structure and catalytic activity of Fe‐N‐C SACs, large amounts of ROS are efficiently produced, which then react with the luminol anion radical and significantly amplify the luminol ECL emission. Under the optimum conditions, a Fe‐N‐C SACs–luminol ECL sensor for antioxidant capacity measurement was developed with a good linear range from 0.8 μm to 1.0 mm of Trolox.