From Earth-Abundant Mineral Sources to High-Efficiency Dual-Atom Catalysts: A Chloride-Guided One-Pot Synthesis...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Catalysis
• Electrochemistry

Background:

• Atomically dispersed catalysts (ADCs) offer superior performance but face synthesis challenges due to metal aggregation.
• Existing methods often require complex precursor optimization and multi-step protocols, hindering scalability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a universal and scalable strategy for synthesizing carbon-supported ADCs.
• To demonstrate a novel chloride-mediated diffusion approach for fabricating ADCs from diverse precursors, including mineral ores.

Main Methods:

• A chloride-mediated diffusion strategy using HCl to convert metal precursors into volatile chlorides.
• Atomic anchoring of metal chlorides onto nitrogen-doped carbon supports.
• Synthesis and characterization of a Fe-Mg hetero-diatomic pair catalyst.

Main Results:

• The method successfully synthesized carbon-supported ADCs, including a Fe-Mg dual-atom catalyst.
• The Fe-Mg catalyst demonstrated remarkable activity for CO2 electroreduction.
• The strategy effectively bypassed precursor limitations and complex synthesis procedures.

Conclusions:

• The chloride-mediated diffusion strategy provides a viable pathway for scalable ADC fabrication.
• This approach enables the design of heteronuclear active sites for advanced catalysis.
• The Fe-Mg dual-atom catalyst showcases the potential of this method for developing efficient electrocatalysts.