Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA.
Adv Mater. 2018 Nov;30(48):e1801995. doi: 10.1002/adma.201801995. Epub 2018 Aug 21.
Single atoms of select transition metals supported on carbon substrates have emerged as a unique system for electrocatalysis because of maximal atom utilization (≈100%) and high efficiency for a range of reactions involved in electrochemical energy conversion and storage, such as the oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution, hydrogen evolution, and CO reduction reactions. Herein, the leading strategies for the preparation of single atom catalysts are summarized, and the electrocatalytic performance of the resulting samples for the various reactions is discussed. In general, the carbon substrate not only provides a stabilizing matrix for the metal atoms, but also impacts the electronic density of the metal atoms due to strong interfacial interactions, which may lead to the formation of additional active sites by the adjacent carbon atoms and hence enhanced electrocatalytic activity. This necessitates a detailed understanding of the material structures at the atomic level, a critical step in the construction of a relevant structural model for theoretical simulations and calculations. Finally, a perspective is included highlighting the promises and challenges for the future development of carbon-supported single atom catalysts in electrocatalysis.
单原子的选择过渡金属负载在碳基底上已经成为电化学催化的独特体系，因为它对各种涉及电化学能量转换和存储的反应具有最高的原子利用率（≈100%）和高效率，例如氧还原、氧析出、析氢和 CO 还原反应。本文总结了单原子催化剂的主要制备策略，并讨论了所得样品在各种反应中的电催化性能。一般来说，碳基底不仅为金属原子提供了稳定的基质，而且由于强界面相互作用，还会影响金属原子的电子密度，这可能导致相邻碳原子形成额外的活性位，从而增强电催化活性。这需要在原子水平上详细了解材料结构，这是构建相关结构模型进行理论模拟和计算的关键步骤。最后，本文包含一个观点，强调了在电催化中未来发展碳负载单原子催化剂的前景和挑战。
