Recent progress on single-atom catalysts for lithium–air battery applications

Abstract

Lithium-air batteries (LABs) have attracted extensive attentions due to their high theoretical energy density based on the “Holy Grail” lithium metal anode and the inexhaustible air as the cathode. However,...

Local structural environment of single-atom catalysts

“…15 Therefore, downsizing the catalyst particles or clusters to single-atoms is extremely desirable for catalytic reactions because atomically isolated sites often function as active sites. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Single metal atoms are ubiquitous in natural biological enzymes as active centers; 22 e.g. the active centers of chlorophyll, heme and nitrogenase are Mg, Fe and Mo atoms, respectively.…”

“…15 Therefore, downsizing the catalyst particles or clusters to single-atoms is extremely desirable for catalytic reactions because atomically isolated sites often function as active sites. 14–21…”

B−N Co‐Doped Biphenylene as a Metal‐Free Cathode Catalyst for Li−O2 Batteries: a Computational Study

“…Lu and colleagues used a wet impregnation chemistry method to grow a discontinuous subnanometer palladium film on carbon, which significantly suppressed side reactions and minimized the overpotential of the charge process [7] . However, the high cost and limited applicability of precious metal catalysts pose challenges to their widespread application [10–12] . Therefore, it is crucial to explore catalysts that are not only cost‐effective but also exhibit exceptional catalytic performance.…”

“…[7] However, the high cost and limited applicability of precious metal catalysts pose challenges to their widespread application. [10][11][12] Therefore, it is crucial to explore catalysts that are not only cost-effective but also exhibit exceptional catalytic performance.…”

Flash-Thermal Shock Synthesis of Single Atoms in Ambient Air

“…Therefore, to effectively prepare SACs, high-energy processes are often necessary to overcome the thermodynamic instability in a top-down approach. In addition, bottom-up methods based on chemical reactions are suggested without any high temperature or atmospheric control involved. − In recent years, various wet-chemistry and/or pyrolysis-based synthetic approaches have been devised for the production of SACs. − However, these processes are conducted at high temperatures in reducing gas atmospheres for extended periods, which can cause agglomeration of single atoms and the subsequent degradation of catalytic performance. To enhance the thermal stability of single atoms, support materials can be functionalized with preferential binding sites that strongly trap the guest metal atoms and restrict their migration even at elevated temperatures.…”