Single Atom Catalysts: A Review of Characterization Methods

Kottwitz, Matthew; Li, Yuanyuan; Wang, Haodong; Frenkel, Anatoly I.; Nuzzo, Ralph G.

doi:10.1002/cmtd.202100020

Title: Single Atom Catalysts: A Review of Characterization Methods

Journal Article · 07 June 2021 · Chemistry Methods

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cmtd.202100020 · OSTI ID:1787395

Kottwitz, Matthew ^[1]; Li, Yuanyuan ^[2]; Wang, Haodong ^[2];

^[3]; Nuzzo, Ralph G. ^[4]

Department of Chemistry University of Illinois Urbana IL 61801 USA
Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering Stony Brook University Stony Brook NY 11794 USA
Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering Stony Brook University Stony Brook NY 11794 USA, Division of Chemistry Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton NY 11973 USA
Department of Chemistry University of Illinois Urbana IL 61801 USA, Surface and Corrosion Science, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health KTH Royal Institute of Technology Drottning Kristinasväg 51 100 44 Stockholm Sweden

Abstract Single atom catalysts (SACs) harbor a potential to exceed nanoparticle catalysts in terms of activity, stability and selectivity in a growing number of chemical reactions. Although their investigation is attracting significant attention, important fundamental questions focusing on key physicochemical properties of SACs (e. g., structure – property relationships, structural dynamics, reaction‐driven restructuring) remain unanswered. A main challenge for research in the field is how to reliably characterize the environments of single atoms in the presence of complicating factors such as low weight loadings, strong metal‐support interactions, and atomic and multiscale heterogeneity of bonding in the single atom sites. This review addresses this challenge – identifying catalytically relevant features of physicochemical properties of single atoms (charge state, electronic structure, atomic configuration, bonding interactions with a support) and surveying advanced tools/methods for characterizing them. The review places a strong emphasis on multimodal methods exploiting X‐ray absorption, emission and photoelectron spectroscopies, and provides several examples from the authors’ research that demonstrate their use as powerful tools for SAC characterization.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357; SC0001004

OSTI ID:: 1787395

Journal Information:: Chemistry Methods, Journal Name: Chemistry Methods Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 1; ISSN 2628-9725

Publisher:: Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

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