Single-Atom Catalysts: A Perspective toward Application in Electrochemical Energy Conversion

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Catalysis
• Electrochemistry

Background:

• Single-atom catalysts (SACs) provide high metal atom efficiency, tunable active sites, and selectivity.
• SACs address cost and raw material abundance issues in catalysis.
• Recent advances include synthesis, activity, and mechanistic understanding of SACs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent progress in single-atom catalyst development.
• To identify crucial areas for advancing SACs toward practical applications.
• To provide an outlook on overcoming key challenges in SAC technology.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of recent activities in SAC research.
• Analysis of challenges in synthesis scale-up.
• Evaluation of SAC performance in electrochemical devices.
• Assessment of SAC degradation mechanisms and mitigation strategies.

Main Results:

• Significant breakthroughs in SAC synthesis, activity, and mechanistic understanding have been achieved.
• Challenges remain in scaling up SAC synthesis for industrial viability.
• Understanding SAC performance and degradation in real devices like fuel cells and electrolyzers is critical.

Conclusions:

• Further development in synthesis scale-up, real-device performance evaluation, and degradation mitigation is essential for the application of SACs.
• Addressing these challenges will enable SACs in electrochemical energy conversion.
• This perspective highlights key areas for future research to advance SAC technology.