Role of N in Transition-Metal-Nitrides for Anchoring Platinum-Group Metal Atoms toward Single-Atom Catalysis

• Published in: Small methods p. e2200295
• Main Authors: Ma, Mingyu, Cheng, Xu, Shi, Zude, Zhang, Chenglan, Li, Yan, Yang, Yifan, Gong, Chengshi, Zhang, Zhenxing, Fei, Huilong, Zhu, Chao, He, Yongmin, Xie, Erqing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany 01.07.2022
• Subjects: single-atom catalysts; hydrogen evolution reactions; supporting substrates; platinum-group metal catalysts
• ISSN: 2366-9608
• DOI: 10.1002/smtd.202200295

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) with a maximum atom utilization efficiency have received growing attention in heterogeneous catalysis. The supporting substrate that provides atomic-dispersed anchoring sites and the local electronic environment in these catalysts is crucial to their activity and stability. Here, inspired by N-doped graphene substrate, the role of N is explored in transition metal nitrides for anchoring single metal atoms toward single-atom catalysis. A pore-rich metallic vanadium nitride (VN) nanosheet is fabricated as one supporting-substrate example, whose surface features abundant unsaturated N sites with lower binding energy than that of widely used N-doped graphene. Impressively, it is found that this support can anchor nearly all platinum-group single atoms (e.g., platinum, palladium, iridium, and ruthenium), and even be extendable to multiple SACs, i.e., binary (Pt/Pd) and ternary (Pt/Pd/Ir). As a proof-of-concept application for hydrogen production, Pt-based SAC (Pt -VN) performs excellently, exhibiting a mass activity up to 22.55 A mg at 0.05 V and a high turnover frequency value close to 0.350 H s , superior to commercial platinum/carbon catalyst. The catalyst's durability can be further improved by using binary (Pt Pd -VN) SAC. This work provides inexpensive and durable nitride-based support, giving a possible pathway for universally constructing platinum-group SACs.