Single-Atom Catalysis

Single-atom catalysis, also known as catalysis by single-atom catalysts (SACs), has gained a lot of interest recently as a novel development in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. SACs are expected to be able to bridge the heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis since they possess the benefits of both types of catalysts. 2011 saw the first use of the phrase "single-atom catalysis" in a landmark paper by Prof. Zhang Tao and colleagues. The catalysis community has been slowly coming around to this idea in recent years, and it has opened up new possibilities. A "single-atom catalyst" (SAC) is a catalyst that only has isolated single atoms scattered on a substrate, and is used in single-atom catalysis. As opposed to typical heterogeneous catalysts, which are made up of a variety of active sites, SACs have isolated, individual atoms scattered across the support, which not only optimises the metal's atomic efficiency but also offers more consistent, well-defined active sites. As a result, SACs behave like homogeneous catalysts in terms of local structure and catalytic performance and are more active and selective than conventional heterogeneous nanocatalysts for a variety of processes.