Recent progress and perspectives on single-atom catalysis

Abstract

Zhiqun Lin, María Escudero-Escribano and Jun Li introduce the Journal of Materials Chemistry A themed issue on single-atom catalysis.

Anion-exchange membrane water electrolyzers and fuel cells

“…Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have achieved significant progress in heterogeneous catalysis, such as CO oxidation, the water-gas shift reaction, electrocatalytic reactions, etc., owing to their efficiency in full atom utilization and excellent activity. 243,[250][251][252][253] As shown in Fig. 20a, the three important compositions in the SACs are the metal central ions, the surrounding ligands, and the host materials.…”

“…, owing to their efficiency in full atom utilization and excellent activity. 243,250–253 As shown in Fig. 20a, the three important compositions in the SACs are the metal central ions, the surrounding ligands, and the host materials.…”

A critical review on emerging photocatalysts for syngas generation via CO2 reduction under aqueous media: a sustainable paradigm

“…In consequence, they are extensively employed as heterogeneous catalysts in photocatalytic CO 2 reduction reactions. 165,166 Herein, we distinctively feature transition metal SACs promoting CO 2 photo-reduction to syngas. Wang et al 51 demonstrated room-temperature synthesis of Fe single atoms anchored over nitrogen doped porous carbon support (denoted as Fe-SAs/N-C) via an electro-chemical filtration method for CO 2 photoreduction into tuneable syngas.…”

Emerging dual-atomic-site catalysts for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction

“…The appropriate support effect can not only stabilize the single atom site but also accelerate mass transport and charge transfer [45,46]. SACs have made important progress in catalyzing single-molecule elementary reactions, such as HER and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) [47,48]. The simplicity of active sites makes SACs weak in catalyzing complex multiple-molecule reactions.…”