A Universal Metal Ion-Targeting Coordination Strategy for Precise Synthesis of Heteronuclear Dual-Atom...

Heteronuclear dual-atoms catalysts (DACs) represent an emerging frontier in heterogeneous catalysis due to maximum atom utilization and synergistic catalysis, yet their precise synthesis remains challenging. Herein, we propose a universal "metal ion targeting coordination" (MITC) strategy to construct a series of heteronuclear DACs. This approach utilizes the bipyridyl (bpy) ligands to coordinate a primary metal (M₁), forming an artificial monooxygenase (bpy)M₁(μ₂-OH) structure, where electron-enriched oxygen atoms serve as anchoring sites for a secondary metal (M₂). The oxygen bridged M₁-O-M₂ configurations in the resulting (bpy)M₁(μ₂-OH)M₂ precursors enable precise synthesis of heteronuclear DACs during the subsequent pyrolysis. Benefiting from geometric and electronic structure merits, heteronuclear DACs can efficiently catalyze oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) through a more desirable dissociative mechanism, thus circumventing the inherent OH*-OOH* linear scaling relations. Notably, the FeCo DAC exhibits exceptional ORR performance, with an onset and half-wave potential of 1.03  and 0.93 V, respectively. The excellent ORR activity of FeCo DAC is further validated in anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), delivering a peak power density over 1.3 W cm^-2 and a current density of 79.2 mA cm^-2 at 0.9 V_iR-free under H₂-O₂ conditions.