Site-specific electrodeposition enables self-terminating growth of atomically dispersed metal catalysts
Open Access
- 11 September 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Communications
- Vol. 11 (1), 1-9
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18430-8
Abstract
The growth of atomically dispersed metal catalysts (ADMCs) remains a great challenge owing to the thermodynamically driven atom aggregation. Here we report a surface-limited electrodeposition technique that uses site-specific substrates for the rapid and room-temperature synthesis of ADMCs. We obtained ADMCs by the underpotential deposition of a non-noble single-atom metal onto the chalcogen atoms of transition metal dichalcogenides and subsequent galvanic displacement with a more-noble single-atom metal. The site-specific electrodeposition enables the formation of energetically favorable metal–support bonds, and then automatically terminates the sequential formation of metallic bonding. The self-terminating effect restricts the metal deposition to the atomic scale. The modulated ADMCs exhibit remarkable activity and stability in the hydrogen evolution reaction compared to state-of-the-art single-atom electrocatalysts. We demonstrate that this methodology could be extended to the synthesis of a variety of ADMCs (Pt, Pd, Rh, Cu, Pb, Bi, and Sn), showing its general scope for functional ADMCs manufacturing in heterogeneous catalysis.Keywords
Other Versions
Funding Information
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (21902076)
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20190289)
This publication has 42 references indexed in Scilit:
- Enhanced catalytic activity in strained chemically exfoliated WS2 nanosheets for hydrogen evolutionNature Materials, 2013
- Single-Atom Catalysts: A New Frontier in Heterogeneous CatalysisAccounts of Chemical Research, 2013
- Identification of Active Edge Sites for Electrochemical H 2 Evolution from MoS 2 NanocatalystsScience, 2007
- Synthesis of Tetrahexahedral Platinum Nanocrystals with High-Index Facets and High Electro-Oxidation ActivityScience, 2007
- Stabilization of Platinum Oxygen-Reduction Electrocatalysts Using Gold ClustersScience, 2007
- ATHENA,ARTEMIS,HEPHAESTUS: data analysis for X-ray absorption spectroscopy usingIFEFFITJournal of Synchrotron Radiation, 2005
- Biomimetic Hydrogen Evolution: MoS2Nanoparticles as Catalyst for Hydrogen EvolutionJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2005
- Metal monolayer deposition by replacement of metal adlayers on electrode surfacesSurface Science, 2001
- Surface-phonon dispersion ofPhysical Review B, 1991
- Ionic recognition and selective response in self-assembling monolayer membranes on electrodesNature, 1988