@article{3ba4ebc16f2c42d78d4d95807da2e74a,
title = "General synthesis of single-atom catalysts with high metal loading using graphene quantum dots",
abstract = "Transition-metal single-atom catalysts present extraordinary activity per metal atomic site, but suffer from low metal-atom densities (typically less than 5 wt% or 1 at.%), which limits their overall catalytic performance. Here we report a general method for the synthesis of single-atom catalysts with high transition-metal-atom loadings of up to 40 wt% or 3.8 at.%, representing several-fold improvements compared to benchmarks in the literature. Graphene quantum dots, later interweaved into a carbon matrix, were used as a support, providing numerous anchoring sites and thus facilitating the generation of high densities of transition-metal atoms with sufficient spacing between the metal atoms to avoid aggregation. A significant increase in activity in electrochemical CO2 reduction (used as a representative reaction) was demonstrated on a Ni single-atom catalyst with increased Ni loading. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]",
author = "Chuan Xia and Yunrui Qiu and Yang Xia and Peng Zhu and Xiao Zhang and Zhenyu Wu and Peng Li and Peixin Cui and Alshareef, {Husam N.} and Yongfeng Hu and Haotian Wang",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by Rice University and the Welch Foundation Research Grant C-2051-20200401. H.W. is a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar in the Bio-inspired Solar Energy Program. C.X. acknowledges support from a J. Evans Attwell-Welch Postdoctoral Fellowship. C.X. acknowledges the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China for startup funding (A1098531023601264). This work was performed in part at the Shared Equipment Authority at Rice University. H.N.A. acknowledges support from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. XAS and PDF measurements were conducted at the Canadian Light Source, which is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), National Research Council Canada (NRC) and University of Saskatchewan. Electron microscopy was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",
year = "2021",
month = sep,
doi = "10.1038/s41557-021-00734-x",
language = "English",
volume = "13",
pages = "887--894",
journal = "Nature Chemistry",
issn = "1755-4330",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "9",
}