Most recently, Prof. Tao Zhang’s group of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was invited to write a review paper about the single-atom catalysts and his related work in this field.

Supported metal nanostructures are the most widely used type of heterogeneous catalyst in industrial processes. The size of metal particles is a key factor in determining the performance of such catalysts. In particular, because low-coordinated metal atoms often function as the catalytically active sites, the specific activity per metal atom usually increases with decreasing size of the metal particles. However, the surface free energy of metals increases significantly with decreasing particle size, promoting aggregation of small clusters. Using an appropriate support material that strongly interacts with the metal species prevents this aggregation, creating stable, finely dispersed metal clusters with a high catalytic activity, an approach industry has used for a long time. Nevertheless, practical supported metal catalysts are inhomogeneous and usually consist of a mixture of sizes from nanoparticles to subnanometer clusters. Such heterogeneity not only reduces the metal atom efficiency but also frequently leads to undesired side reactions. It also makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to uniquely identify and control the active sites of interest (Acc. Chem. Res., 2013, 46 (8), 1740–1748, DOI: 10.1021/ar300361m).