Recent progress in single-atom alloys: Synthesis, properties, and applications in environmental catalysis

Zhiling Xu; Zhimin Ao; Mei Yang; Shaobin Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127427

Recent progress in single-atom alloys: Synthesis, properties, and applications in environmental catalysis

J Hazard Mater. 2022 Feb 15;424(Pt B):127427. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127427. Epub 2021 Oct 8.

Authors

Zhiling Xu¹, Zhimin Ao², Mei Yang³, Shaobin Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Guangzhou Key Laboratory Environmental Catalysis and Pollution Control, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; SINOPEC Maoming Petrochemical Company, Maoming 525011, China.
² Guangzhou Key Laboratory Environmental Catalysis and Pollution Control, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: zhimin.ao@gdut.edu.cn.
³ SINOPEC Maoming Petrochemical Company, Maoming 525011, China.
⁴ School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.

PMID: 34678562
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127427

Abstract

Heterogeneous catalysts have made outstanding advancements in pollutants elimination as well as energy and materials production over the past decades. Single-atom alloys (SAAs) are novel environmental catalysts prepared by dispersing single metal atoms on other metals. Integrating the advantages of single atom and alloys, SAAs can maximize atom utilization, reduce the use of noble metals and enhance catalytic performances. The synergistic, electronic and geometric effects of SAAs are effective to modulate the activation energy and adsorption strength, consequently breaking linear scaling relationship as well as offering an excellent catalytic activity and selectivity. Moreover, SAAs possess clear atomic structure, active sites and reaction mechanisms, providing an opportunity to tailor catalytic properties and develop effective environmental catalysts. In this review, we provide the recent progress on synthetic strategies, catalytic properties and catalyst design of SAAs. Furthermore, the applications of SAAs in environmental catalysis are introduced towards catalytic conversion and elimination of different air pollutants in many important reactions including (electrochemical) oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), dehydrogenation of VOCs, CO₂ conversion, NO_x reduction, CO oxidation, SO₃ decomposition, etc. Finally, challenges and opportunities of SAAs in a broad environmental field are proposed.

Keywords: Catalyst design; Environmental catalysis; Gas pollutants; Single-atom alloys.

Publication types

Review