Issue 14/2018 - New advances in single-atom catalysis

Recently, the research team of Qiao Botao, researcher Qiao Botao and Academician Zhang Tao of the Aerospace Catalysis and New Materials Research Office of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have made new progress in the research of single-atom catalysis, and found that single-atom catalysts have far exceeded the activity and selectivity of nanocatalysts in the selective oxidation reaction of alcohols, and it is proposed and proved for the first time that the characteristics of the interface maximization of single-atom catalysts are important reasons for the excellent performance of
catalysts.

The team delved into the performance
of cerium oxide-supported Au, Pt monoatomic and nanocatalysts for selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol.
The results show that the single-atom catalyst not only has high catalytic efficiency, but also has higher selectivity, and also has good substrate applicability and reaction stability
.
Detailed mechanistic studies revealed that lattice oxygen at the interface has higher reactivity and selectivity
.
The interface maximization characteristics of single-atom catalysts and the maximum proportion of activation of lattice oxygen in the carrier cerium dioxide are important reasons for the higher selectivity and activity of
single-atom catalysts than ordinary nanocatalysts.
This study provides new ideas for the development of high-efficiency alcohol oxidation catalysts, and also provides inspiration
for the design of catalysts for synergistic catalysis at other metal-support interfaces.