Rare Earth Single-Atom Catalysts for Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide Reduction.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31934745.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acsnano.9b08835.
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Abstract
Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have attracted much attention owning to their high catalytic properties. Herein, yttrium and scandium rare earth SACs are successfully synthesized on a carbon support (Y<sub>1</sub>/NC and Sc<sub>1</sub>/NC). Different from the well-known M-N<sub>4</sub> structure of M-N-C (M = Fe, Co) catalysts, Sc and Y atoms with a large atomic radius tend to be anchored to the large-sized carbon defects through six coordination bonds of nitrogen and carbon. Although Y- and Sc-based nanomaterials are generally inactive to room-temperature electrochemical reactions, Y<sub>1</sub>/NC and Sc<sub>1</sub>/NC SACs exhibit catalytic activities to nitrogen reduction reaction and carbon dioxide reduction reaction due to the modulation of the local electronic structure of Y/Sc single atoms by N and C coordination. The catalytic functions of rare earth single atoms not only demonstrate the magical effect of SACs but also promote the application of rare earth catalysts in room-temperature electrochemical reactions.