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SINGLE-ATOM CATALYSIS

All the lonely atoms, where do they all belong?

Nature Nanotechnology volume 17, pages 110–111 (2022)Cite this article

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A spectacular advance in catalyst synthesis is demonstrated by a two-step process that yields high loadings of single atoms at a kilogram scale suitable for industrial deployment.

In recent years, many research groups have contributed to the conversion of the empirical ‘art’ of supported catalyst preparation into a science. First, a method based on electrostatic attraction of metal complexes to oppositely charged support surfaces has been developed, which enables the synthesis of ultra-small, tightly sized nanoparticles of many metals over a wide variety of catalyst supports1. The method of strong electrostatic adsorption (SEA)2 allows control over the initial dispersion of the catalyst precursor, and in a bimetallic catalyst, homogeneous alloying of supported nanoparticles near 1 nm in size (Fig. 1b).

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Fig. 1: Evolution in the synthesis of supported metal catalysts.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    John R. Regalbuto

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

    Abhaya K. Datye

Authors
  1. John R. Regalbuto
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  2. Abhaya K. Datye
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Correspondence to John R. Regalbuto or Abhaya K. Datye.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Regalbuto, J.R., Datye, A.K. All the lonely atoms, where do they all belong?. Nat. Nanotechnol. 17, 110–111 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-01047-3

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