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Catalysis

Tens of thousands of atoms replaced by one

Many catalysts comprise metal nanoparticles on solid supports. The discovery that single atoms of palladium anchored to a solid support also exhibit high catalytic activity might help to conserve the supply of this and related rare metals.

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Figure 1: A single-atom palladium catalyst.

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Correspondence to John Meurig Thomas.

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Thomas, J. Tens of thousands of atoms replaced by one. Nature 525, 325–326 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/525325a

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