E fficient and cost-effective electrocatalysts play critical roles in energy conversion and storage [1][2][3] . Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts represent two parallel frontiers of electrocatalysts, each with their own merits and drawbacks 4,5 . Homogeneous catalysts are attractive for their highly uniform active sites, tunable coordination environment and maximized atom utilization efficiency, but are limited by their relatively poor stability and recyclability. Heterogeneous catalysts are appealing for their high durability, excellent recyclability, and easy immobilization and integration with electrodes, but usually have rather low atom utilization efficiency due to the limited surface sites accessible to reactants. To this end, considerable efforts have been devoted to developing nanoscale heterogeneous catalysts that can increase the exposed surface atoms 3 . However, the inhomogeneity in the distribution of particle sizes and facets poses a serious challenge for controlling active sites and fundamental mechanistic studies 6,7 . In contrast, homogeneous catalysts typically exhibit the well-defined atomic structure with tunable coordination environment that is essential for deciphering the catalytic reaction pathway and rational design of targeted catalysts with tailored catalytic properties 8 . Single-atom catalysts (SACs) with monodispersed single atoms supported on solid substrates are recently emerging as an exciting class of catalysts that combine the merits of both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts [9][10][11][12][13][14] . However, most SACs studied to date employ metal oxides (for example, TiO 2 , CeO 2 and FeO x ) as supporting substrates to prevent atom aggregation [15][16][17][18] , which cannot be readily applied in electrocatalytic applications due to their low electrical conductivity and/or poor stability in harsh liquid-phase electrolytes (for example, strong acid or base). Atomic transitionmetal-nitrogen moieties supported in carbon (M-N-Cs) represent a unique class of SACs with high electrical conductivity and superior (electro)chemical stability for electrocatalytic applications 19 . In particular, Fe-based M-N-Cs have been extensively studied as electrocatalysts towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with demonstrated activity and stability approaching those of commercial Pt/C catalysts 20,21 . In addition, as suggested by numerous theoretical studies, M-N-Cs are promising candidates for catalysing a wide range of electrochemical processes, such as hydrogen reduction/oxidation 22 , CO 2 /CO reduction 23 and N 2 reduction 24 . A significant advantage of SACs is that the well-defined single atomic site could allow precise understanding of the catalytic reaction pathway, and rational design of targeted catalysts with tailored activity (in a manner similar to homogeneous catalyst design). However, this perceived advantage has been investigated theoretically
Nanostructured materials have shown extraordinary promise for electrochemical energy storage but are usually limited to electrodes with rather low mass loading (~1 milligram per square centimeter) because of the increasing ion diffusion limitations in thicker electrodes. We report the design of a three-dimensional (3D) holey-graphene/niobia (NbO) composite for ultrahigh-rate energy storage at practical levels of mass loading (>10 milligrams per square centimeter). The highly interconnected graphene network in the 3D architecture provides excellent electron transport properties, and its hierarchical porous structure facilitates rapid ion transport. By systematically tailoring the porosity in the holey graphene backbone, charge transport in the composite architecture is optimized to deliver high areal capacity and high-rate capability at high mass loading, which represents a critical step forward toward practical applications.
Reaction of AlCl(3)·6H(2)O with 2,2'-bipyridine-5,5'-dicarboxylic acid (H(2)bpydc) affords Al(OH)(bpydc) (1, MOF-253), the first metal-organic framework with open 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) coordination sites. The material displays a BET surface area of 2160 m(2)/g and readily complexes metals to afford, for example, 1·xPdCl(2) (x = 0.08, 0.83) and 1·0.97Cu(BF(4))(2). EXAFS spectroscopy performed on 1·0.83PdCl(2) reveals the expected square planar coordination geometry, matching the structure of the model complex (bpy)PdCl(2). Significantly, the selectivity factor for binding CO(2) over N(2) under typical flue gas conditions is observed to increase from 2.8 in 1 to 12 in 1·0.97Cu(BF(4))(2).
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