image: Using high-temperature shock technology, bulk copper was successfully converted into Cu single-atom catalysts (0.54 wt% Cu loading) within 0.5 seconds, effectively preventing atomic aggregation.
Credit: Nano Research, Tsinghua University Press
In recent years, single-atom catalysts (SACs) have gained widespread attention in the field of heterogeneous catalysis due to their exceptional catalytic performance, making them a forefront area of research. To enhance the performance of SACs, pyrolysis has been widely applied to convert metal, carbon, and nitrogen precursors into highly active structures. However, at high temperatures, single atoms tend to aggregate into clusters, reducing catalytic efficiency and triggering undesirable side reactions. Therefore, effectively preventing atomic aggregation while maintaining dispersion remains a major challenge in synthesizing highly efficient SACs.
Recently, a research team led by Professors Jianfeng Li and Fengru Fan from Xiamen University published a study in Nano Research, proposing a novel high-temperature shock method to directly convert bulk copper into Cu SACs with a copper loading of 0.54 wt%. The study introduces a new, rapid, and effective energy input approach for the “top-down” atomicization synthesis of single-atom catalysts from bulk metals.
Unlocking New Opportunities with High-Temperature Shock
While existing “top-down” methods, such as chemical reaction-assisted pyrolysis, facilitate the atomicization of bulk metals by utilizing reactive gases, they only partially mitigate the aggregation issue observed in traditional pyrolysis methods. These methods typically suffer from slow reaction rates and often involve toxic gases, limiting their feasibility for large-scale production. Thus, developing a novel, scalable method for the rapid transformation of metal particles or bulk precursors into SACs would represent a significant breakthrough in this field.
As an emerging synthesis technology, the high-temperature shock method has recently been widely employed for the controlled synthesis of thermodynamically metastable and high-performance solid-state catalytic materials, including high-entropy alloys, metal clusters, and SACs.
“The key advantage of this method lies in its ultra-high heating and cooling rates—often exceeding 1000 K/s—creating a kinetically dominated and thermodynamically non-equilibrium environment,” explained Professor Fengru Fan.
The extreme temperature and short heating duration in the high-temperature shock process play a crucial role in achieving highly dispersed catalysts. Rapid heating activates precursors to a high-energy state, while the ultra-short heating time effectively suppresses atomic aggregation into nanoparticles. Consequently, the high-temperature shock method is commonly used to transform metal precursors into single-atom structures.
“In recent years, high-temperature shock techniques have been applied to synthesize various SACs, such as Pt, Ni, and Co. However, studies using this technique to directly dissociate bulk metals into SACs remain rare. Our approach presents a novel, rapid, and efficient pathway for SAC synthesis,” Professor Fan added.
Overcoming Challenges: Direct Atomicization of Bulk Metals into SACs
A key challenge in synthesizing SACs using the high-temperature shock method is the precise energy input required to directly induce atomicization from bulk metal. To address this, the research team developed a high-temperature shock method capable of converting bulk copper foil into Cu SACs within just 0.5 seconds, demonstrating its application in electrocatalytic nitrite reduction (NO2RR) for ammonia synthesis.
This process involves exciting copper atoms to be captured by substrate defects, promoting Cu-N bond formation while effectively preventing Cu atom aggregation. As a result, the stability and catalytic performance of the SACs are significantly enhanced.
Future Prospects: Expanding to Other Metal-Based Catalysts
The research team believes that the high-temperature shock method can be extended to synthesize other transition metal SACs, such as Fe, Co, and Ni, with potential applications in fuel cells, CO2 reduction, and beyond. By integrating different support materials, the versatility of SACs could be further improved.
“In the future, the high-temperature shock method could be tailored to synthesize a wide range of single-atom catalysts with different metal-support combinations, depending on the requirements of the target catalytic reactions,” Professor Fan envisioned.
Research Team and Funding Support
This study was jointly conducted by researchers from the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Xiamen University, under the leadership of Professors Jianfeng Li and Fengru Fan.
The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22402164).
About the Authors
Dr. Feng Ru Fan is a full professor in the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, China. His research interests focus on the construction of novel charged interfaces and their physicochemical behaviors, as well as energy harvesting and conversion, tribocatalysis, and microdroplet chemistry. As a corresponding author, she has published multiple papers in PNAS, JACS, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., and Nat. Commun., with a total citation count exceeding 22,000 times, and a single paper being cited more than 5,900 times.For more information, please pay attention to his research homepage https://chem.xmu.edu.cn/info/1420/9282.htm.
About Nano Research
Nano Research is a peer-reviewed, open access, international and interdisciplinary research journal, sponsored by Tsinghua University and the Chinese Chemical Society, published by Tsinghua University Press on the platform SciOpen. It publishes original high-quality research and significant review articles on all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, ranging from basic aspects of the science of nanoscale materials to practical applications of such materials. After 17 years of development, it has become one of the most influential academic journals in the nano field. Nano Research has published more than 1,000 papers every year from 2022, with its cumulative count surpassing 7,000 articles. In 2023 InCites Journal Citation Reports, its 2023 IF is 9.6 (9.0, 5 years), and it continues to be the Q1 area among the four subject classifications. Nano Research Award, established by Nano Research together with TUP and Springer Nature in 2013, and Nano Research Young Innovators (NR45) Awards, established by Nano Research in 2018, have become international academic awards with global influence.
Journal
Nano Research
Article Title
High-temperature shock-induced transformation of bulk copper into single-atom catalyst
Article Publication Date
20-Mar-2025