Developing a class of dual atom materials for multifunctional catalytic reactions

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Dual atom catalysts (DACs) bridge single atom and nanoparticle catalysts, offering enhanced kinetics and multifunctional performance for key energy reactions.
• Designing efficient multifunctional DACs for oxygen reduction/evolution and hydrogen evolution reactions remains a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a controllable strategy for fabricating dual atom catalysts.
• To explore the potential of these catalysts in energy conversion technologies.

Main Methods:

• An atomization and sintering strategy involving N-stripping and thermal-migrating processes was employed.
• This method allowed for tunable regulation from cobalt nanoparticles to cobalt single atoms (CoN₄) and cobalt dual atoms (Co₂N₅).
• The strategy was extended to fabricate 22 distinct dual atom catalysts.

Main Results:

• The Co₂N₅ dual atom catalyst, with tailored spin states, demonstrated ideally balanced adsorption/desorption of intermediates, leading to superior multifunctional activity.
• This catalyst achieved 800 hours of stability in Zn-air batteries and 1000 hours of continuous operation in water splitting.
• Enabled uninterrupted, large-scale hydrogen production in solar-powered water splitting systems.

Conclusions:

• A universal and scalable strategy for designing efficient multifunctional dual atom catalysts was established.
• This approach offers significant opportunities for advancing energy conversion technologies.
• Tailored dual atom catalysts show great promise for applications in batteries and hydrogen production.