2020/01/14 by Jieyuan Liu, Xue Jun Kong, Lirong Zheng +3 · 8 citations
Chemical Engineering · Energy · Materials Science · #Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction #Catalytic Processes in Materials Science #Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
paper · doi:10.1021/acsnano.9b08835
openalex publication_date 2020/01/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
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 1 /NC and Sc 1 /NC). Different from the well-known M–N 4 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 1 /NC and Sc 1 /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.