Peng Mi, Dong Chunyang, Gao Rui, Xiao Dequan, Liu Hongyang, Ma Ding
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering and College of Engineering, and BIC-ESAT, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P. R. China.
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, P. R. China.
ACS Cent Sci. 2021 Feb 24;7(2):262-273. doi: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c01486. Epub 2020 Dec 22.
Increasing attention has been paid to single-atom catalysts (SACs) in heterogeneous catalysis because of their unique electronic properties, maximized atomic utilization efficiency, and potential to serve as a bridge between the heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis. However, SACs can have limited advantages or even constrained applications for the reactions that require designated metallic states with multiple atoms or surface sites with metal-metal bonds. As a cross-dimensional extension to the concept of SACs, fully exposed cluster catalysts (FECCs) offer diverse surface sites formed by an ensemble of metal atoms, for the adsorption and transformation of reactants/intermediates. More importantly, FECCs have the advantage of maximized atom utilization efficiency. Thus, FECCs provide a novel platform to design effective and efficient catalysts for certain chemical processes. This outlook summarizes recent advances and proposes prospective research directions in the design of catalysts and characterizations of FECCs, together with potential challenges.
由于其独特的电子性质、最大化的原子利用效率以及在多相催化和均相催化之间架起桥梁的潜力，单原子催化剂（SACs）在多相催化中受到了越来越多的关注。然而，对于那些需要具有多个原子的特定金属态或具有金属-金属键的表面位点的反应，SACs可能具有有限的优势，甚至受到应用限制。作为SACs概念的跨维度扩展，完全暴露的团簇催化剂（FECCs）提供了由金属原子集合形成的各种表面位点，用于反应物/中间体的吸附和转化。更重要的是，FECCs具有最大化原子利用效率的优势。因此，FECCs为设计用于某些化学过程的高效催化剂提供了一个新平台。本展望总结了近期进展，并提出了FECCs催化剂设计和表征方面的前瞻性研究方向，以及潜在挑战。
