Rare Earth Single-Atom Catalysts for Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide Reduction

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Catalysis
• Electrochemistry

Background:

• Single-atom catalysts (SACs) offer high catalytic efficiency due to maximized atom utilization.
• Traditional M-N-C catalysts often feature M-N4 active sites.
• Rare earth nanomaterials are typically inactive for room-temperature electrochemical reactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize novel yttrium and scandium single-atom catalysts (Y1/NC and Sc1/NC) on a carbon support.
• To investigate the unique coordination structure of rare earth single atoms on carbon defects.
• To evaluate the electrocatalytic performance of these novel SACs for nitrogen and carbon dioxide reduction reactions.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of Y1/NC and Sc1/NC single-atom catalysts.
• Characterization of catalyst structure and coordination environment.
• Electrochemical testing for nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) and carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR).

Main Results:

• Yttrium and scandium single atoms were successfully anchored to carbon defects via six coordination bonds (N and C).
• Unlike typical rare earth materials, Y1/NC and Sc1/NC exhibited significant catalytic activity.
• The catalysts demonstrated performance in both nitrogen reduction reaction and carbon dioxide reduction reaction.

Conclusions:

• Rare earth single atoms, modulated by N and C coordination, can be catalytically active at room temperature.
• The unique coordination structure (not M-N4) is key to the observed activity.
• This work expands the application scope of rare earth catalysts in electrocatalysis and highlights the potential of SACs.