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Updated: Sep 20, 2025

Author Spotlight: Accelerating Discovery in Microporous Material Chemistry
Published on: October 6, 2023
Universal Metal-Exchange Strategy for Room Temperature Synthesis of Single-Atom Nanozymes
Jie Zhang1, Zezhong Huang1, Bolong Xu1
1Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, Bionanomaterials & Translational Engineering Laboratory, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P.R. China.
Abstract:
The high-temperature limitations of single-atom catalysts (SACs) synthesis, primarily thermal aggregation and low metal loadings, are overcome by a novel room-temperature metal-exchange strategy. We leverage the weak Zn─N coordination in high-loading Zn SACs (12.10 wt%, synthesized via controlled ZIF-8 pyrolysis) as a platform for the facile exchange with a broad range of metals (Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, Pt, up to 12.67 wt%) and the creation of multi-metallic species. This ambient-temperature approach significantly reduces aggregation, enhancing the exposure of catalytic active sites and delivering superior multi-enzyme-like activities (catalase, peroxidase, oxidase). Our work not only provides a scalable, low-temperature route to high-performance SACs but also reveals crucial insights into the stability of SACs under metal-ion conditions.

