Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Synthesis and Performance Characterizations of Transition Metal Single Atom Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Published on: April 10, 2018
Coupled Fe3O4-Cluster Precipitates and Single Fe-Atom Catalysts Can Boost Oxygen Reduction via Concomitantly
Cheng-Kai Du1, Xiongyi Liang2,3, Fei-Xiang Ma1
1Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, China.
Abstract:
Fe-N-C single-atom catalysts (SACs) can deliver high activity for catalyzing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline conditions. However, the sluggish water dissociation upon Fe-N4 active sites limits their proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) capability, impeding their practical applications like anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs). Here, inspired by the known nanoprecipitation behavior in solid-solution alloys, a residual-oxygen-assisted precipitation strategy is undertaken to fabricate coupled Fe3O4-cluster precipitates along with single Fe-atom catalysts (Fe3O4/FeSA@NC), where Fe3O4 clusters are generated by slight oxidation and local enrichment of Fe atoms in the FeSA@NC matrix. Operando spectroscopy and theoretical calculations suggest that the Fe3O4-cluster precipitates not only induce asymmetric electronic structures of the Fe-N4 active center to optimize the OH* adsorption, but also accelerate the water dissociation on Fe-N4 sites to boost the PCET steps, thereby promoting the ORR. Notably, the coupled Fe3O4/FeSA@NC exhibits superb alkaline ORR performance with a high half-wave potential of 0.953 V versus RHE. When employed as cathode catalysts, the Fe3O4/FeSA@NC demonstrates a high peak power density of 909.3 mW cm-2 and 219.4 mW cm-2 in AEMFCs and Zn-air batteries, respectively, far exceeding that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst. The novel coupled metal-oxide cluster/SAC strategy can be exploited as a generic approach for improving electrocatalytic performance.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Catalysis
Catalysis
Heterogeneous 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...
Precipitation and Co-precipitation
Colloidal precipitates

