Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 1, 2026

Synthesis and Performance Characterizations of Transition Metal Single Atom Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Published on: April 10, 2018
A doping-adsorption-pyrolysis strategy for constructing atomically dispersed cobalt sites anchored on a N-doped
Yuan Pan1,2, Minmin Wang2, Chao Feng2
1Engineering Research Center for Waste Oil Recovery Technology and Equipment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Technology and Business University Chongqing 400067 China panyuan@upc.edu.cn fch_upc@163.com.
Abstract:
Renewable energy technology development focuses on the exploration of economical and efficient non-precious metal catalysts to replace precious metal catalysts in electrocatalytic reactions including oxygen reduction (ORR) and hydrogen evolution (HER). Herein, we synthesized a cobalt single atom catalyst anchored on a N-doped carbon framework by a doping-adsorption-pyrolysis strategy. The optimized Co SAs/CN-3 catalyst showed excellent HER and ORR bifunctional electrocatalytic performance, which could be attributed to the highly dispersed Co-N4 active sites, large specific surface area and abundant pore structure. Density functional theory shows that the isolated active Co-N4 site shows low hydrogen adsorption Gibbs free energy, and promotes the adsorption of H and oxygen-containing intermediates in HER and ORR. This work not only provides a new idea for the construction of transition metal catalysts with atomic accuracy but also provides powerful guidance for the development of efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Catalysis
Reduction of Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Metals like palladium, platinum, and nickel are commonly used in their solid forms — fine powder on an inert surface. As these catalysts remain insoluble in the reaction mixture, they are referred to as heterogeneous catalysts.
The hydrogenation process takes place on the surface of...
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
Reduction of Benzene to Cyclohexane: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Heterogeneous Catalysis

