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SINGLE ATOM CATALYSIS

Dispersing nanoparticles into single atoms

Nature Nanotechnology volume 14, pages 817–818 (2019)Cite this article

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While heating a catalyst causes growth of nanoparticles through Ostwald ripening, repeated on/off high-temperature shockwaves can reverse the process, converting the nanoparticles into stable single-atom catalysts.

Single-atom platinum catalysts, first demonstrated in 2011 by Botao Qiao et al.1, could potentially revolutionize the field of heterogeneous catalysis. Pt catalysts are versatile — they are used extensively in industry, for example in catalytic convertors in cars and for producing chemicals and fuels. Therefore, if single atoms of Pt could replace nanoparticles containing thousands of atoms, the benefits to society could be enormous. Unfortunately, isolated metal atoms become mobile and agglomerate readily to form nanoparticles when heated to high temperatures. Achieving high-temperature stability for single-atom catalysts is, therefore, critical.

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Fig. 1: Schematic illustration of the conversion of Pt nanoparticles into single atoms.

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  1. Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Abhaya K. Datye

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  1. Abhaya K. Datye
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Correspondence to Abhaya K. Datye.

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Datye, A.K. Dispersing nanoparticles into single atoms. Nat. Nanotechnol. 14, 817–818 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-019-0513-z

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