Atomically Dispersed Pd Atoms on a Simple MgO Support with an Ultralow Loading for Selective Hydrogenation of Acetylene to Ethylene

We report a simple and efficient Pd/MgO catalyst loaded with ppm level of Pd (7.8 ppm) for semi-hydrogenation of acetylene to ethylene. The catalyst showed excellent performance with high acetylene conversion (97%), high ethylene selectivity (89%) and good stability. Moreover, the atomically dispersed Pd atoms are inactive for ethylene hydrogenation. Isotopic and FTIR results suggest that H₂ dissociates at isolated Pd atoms in a heterolytic manner forming O−H bond, which may account for the high selectivity.     

Surface Organometallic Chemistry for Single-site Catalysis and Single-atom Catalysis

Although driven by different research interests, single-site catalysts and single-atom catalysts are both believed to be model systems bridging homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. The two concepts are similar but different. In this review, we will first explain the difference between single-atom catalysis and single-site catalysis, in terms of their goals, synthetic methods and coordination structures of corresponding catalysts. Then, we will introduce the surface organometallic chemistry method, a method traditionally used for synthesizing single-site catalyst. We will explain why it might benefit the single-atom catalysis community. At last, the choice of support to accommodate the method for synthesizing single-atom catalysts will be discussed.     

Atomically flat single terminated oxide substrate surfaces

Scientific interest in atomically controlled layer-by-layer fabrication of transition metal oxide thin films and heterostructures has increased intensely in recent decades for basic physics reasons as well as for technological applications. This trend has to do, in part, with the coming post-Moore era, and functional oxide electronics could be regarded as a viable alternative for the current semiconductor electronics. Furthermore, the interface of transition metal oxides is exposing many new emergent phenomena and is increasingly becoming a playground for testing new ideas in condensed matter physics. To achieve high quality epitaxial thin films and heterostructures of transition metal oxides with atomically controlled interfaces, one critical requirement is the use of atomically flat single terminated oxide substrates since the atomic arrangements and the reaction chemistry of the topmost surface layer of substrates determine the growth and consequent properties of the overlying films. Achieving the atomically flat and chemically single terminated surface state of commercially available substrates, however, requires judicious efforts because the surface of as-received substrates is of chemically mixed nature and also often polar. In this review, we summarize the surface treatment procedures to accomplish atomically flat surfaces with single terminating layer for various metal oxide substrates. We particularly focus on the substrates with lattice constant ranging from 4.00 Å to 3.70 Å, as the lattice constant of most perovskite materials falls into this range. For materials outside the range, one can utilize the substrates to induce compressive or tensile strain on the films and explore new states not available in bulk. The substrates covered in this review, which have been chosen with commercial availability and, most importantly, experimental practicality as a criterion, are KTaO₃, REScO₃ (RE = Rare-earth elements), SrTiO₃, La_0.18Sr_0.82Al_0.59Ta_0.41O₃ (LSAT), NdGaO₃, LaAlO₃, SrLaAlO₄, and YAlO₃. Analyzing all the established procedures, we conclude that atomically flat surfaces with selective A- or B-site single termination would be obtained for most commercially available oxide substrates. We further note that this topmost surface layer selectivity would provide an additional degree of freedom in searching for unforeseen emergent phenomena and functional applications in epitaxial oxide thin films and heterostructures with atomically controlled interfaces.     

GaAs光电阴极片原子级表面清洁方法的研究及评价

本文对GaAs光电阴极片UHV系统中原子级表面清洁方法做了研究,它们是:光加热法、直接加热法、离子轰击加退火法、热子加热法,表面清洁效果用装于UHV系统中间在线俄歇检测,表面质量用Aa/GaAuger峰高进行比较,指出两种用于第三代象增强器光电阴极的表面清洁方法:CS-离子轰击加退火法和热子背加热法。     

Co−Co Dinuclear Active Sites Dispersed on Zirconium-doped Heterostructured Co9S8/Co3O4 for High-current-density and Durable Acidic Oxygen Evolution

Developing cost-effective and sustainable acidic water oxidation catalysts requires significant advances in material design and in-depth mechanism understanding for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. Herein, we developed a single atom regulatory strategy to construct Co−Co dinuclear active sites (DASs) catalysts that atomically dispersed zirconium doped Co₉S₈/Co₃O₄ heterostructure. The X-ray absorption fine structure elucidated the incorporation of Zr greatly facilitated the generation of Co−Co DASs layer with stretching of cobalt oxygen bond and S−Co−O heterogeneous grain boundaries interfaces, engineering attractive activity of significantly reduced overpotential of 75 mV at 10 mA cm⁻², a breakthrough of 500 mA cm⁻² high current density, and water splitting stability of 500 hours in acid, making it one of the best-performing acid-stable OER non-noble metal materials. The optimized catalyst with interatomic Co−Co distance (ca. 2.80 Å) followed oxo-oxo coupling mechanism that involved obvious oxygen bridges on dinuclear Co sites (1,090 cm⁻¹), confirmed by in situ SR-FTIR, XAFS and theoretical simulations. Furthermore, a major breakthrough of 120,000 mA g⁻¹ high mass current density using the first reported noble metal-free cobalt anode catalyst of Co−Co DASs/ZCC in PEM-WE at 2.14 V was recorded.     

Growth process of atomically flat anodic films on titanium under potentiostatical electrochemical treatment in H2SO4 solution

The as-deposited titanium film on silicon wafer was electrochemically treated in potential sweep and potential step modes in 0.1 M H₂SO₄ solution at 30 °C. Under the anodization conditions of potential sweep and properly modulated cyclic voltammetry (CV), nanoscale grains, step-terrace structure and atomic images were clearly observed on the surface of anodic oxide film on titanium. Under potential step conditions, if the anodization time was short (1 s), no grains could be found on the anodic oxide film surface, even though the potential was high up to 9000 mV. Moreover, whatever potential sweep or potential step mode was performed, sufficient time (low sweep rate means a prolonged anodization time) was needed for the formation of nanoscale grains, atomically flat surface and step-terrace structure on the anodized titanium film.     

Boosting Electroreduction Kinetics of Nitrogen to Ammonia via Atomically Dispersed Sn Protuberance

Atomically dispersed metal catalysts show potential advantages in N₂ reduction reaction (NRR) due to their excellent activity and efficient metal utilization. Unfortunately, the reported catalysts usually exhibit unsatisfactory NRR activity due to their poor N₂ adsorption and activation. Herein, we report a novel Sn atomically dispersed protuberance (ADP) by coordination with substrate C and O to induce positive charge accumulation on Sn site for improving its N₂ adsorption, activation and NRR performance. The extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra confirmed the local coordination structure of the Sn ADPs. NRR activity was significantly promoted via Sn ADPs, exhibiting a remarkable NH₃ yield (R_NH3) of 28.3 μg h⁻¹ mg_cat⁻¹ (7447 μg h⁻¹ mg_Sn⁻¹) at −0.3 V. Furthermore, the enhanced N₂H_x intermediates was verified by in situ experiments, yielding consistent results with DFT calculation. This work opens a new avenue to regulate the activity and selectivity of N₂ fixation.     

[Au25(SR)18]-团簇的相干振动动力学研究

利用飞秒时间分辨光谱,可观测叠加在电子态动力学上的相干振动动力学. 从金团簇的相干振动中,不仅能提取电子与振动的耦合信息,也能得到力学性质和电子结构,进而有望实现微小质量探测等应用. 本文利用飞秒时间分辨的瞬态吸收探测了[Au₂₅(SR)₁₈]^-团簇的相干振动动力学,通过对相干振动的频率、相位、波长分布的详细分析进一步揭示了其来源. 在[Au₂₅(SR)₁₈]^-团簇的飞秒瞬态吸收动力学中可以观测到频率为40 cm^-1和80 cm^-1的两种振动,均来源于团簇中心Au₁₃核的振动. 通过对相干振动的相位分析发现频率为80 cm^-1的振动来自于对电子态之间吸收频率的调制,而频率为40 cm^-1的振动来源于对电子态之间吸收强度的调制. 同时,研究发现[Au₂₅(SR)₁₈]^-团簇相干振动的频率对其表面配体不敏感,该振动是来源于Au₁₃核的本征性质.     

多策略可控合成原子精度合金纳米团簇

合金纳米团簇作为一类新兴的多功能纳米材料已被广泛用于催化、光学传感以及生物医学成像等研究领域,而纳米团簇的可控合成和结构特征是调节纳米团簇性质并对其进一步利用的基础。尽管当前有关金属纳米团簇可控合成和结构特征的研究主要集中在单金属纳米团簇中,但有关合金纳米团簇原子精度的可控合成也取得了显著的进展。本文综述了配体保护的合金金属纳米团簇原子精度可控合成策略,包括一步合成法、金属交换、配体交换、化学刻蚀、簇间反应、原位两相配体交换以及最新的表面模体交换反应,并对相关合成策略的优缺点进行了详细的讨论和阐述。