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Updated: Feb 8, 2026

Synthesis and Performance Characterizations of Transition Metal Single Atom Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Published on: April 10, 2018
Noble-Metal-Free Single-Atom Catalysts CuAl4 O7-9 - for CO Oxidation by O2
Xiu-Ping Zou1,2, Li-Na Wang1,3,4, Xiao-Na Li1,4
1State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
Abstract:
The single copper atom doped clusters CuAl4 O7-9 - can catalyze CO oxidation by O2 . The CuAl4 O7-9 - clusters are the first group of experimentally identified noble-metal free single atom catalysts for such a prototypical reaction. The reactions were characterized by mass spectrometry and density functional theory calculations. The CuAl4 O9 CO- is much more reactive than CuAl4 O9 - in the reaction with CO to generate CO2 . One adsorbed CO is crucial to stabilize Cu of CuAl4 O9 - around +I oxidation state and promote the oxidation of another CO. The widely emphasized correlation between the catalytic reactivity of CO oxidation and Cu oxidation state can be understood at the strictly molecular level. The remarkable difference between Cu catalysis and noble-metal catalysis was discussed.
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