Single Atom Alloy Preparation and Applications in Heterogeneous Catalysis

There have been remarkable progresses in manipulating heterogeneous catalysts' nanostructures in the past decade. The concept of single atom alloy (SAA) was firstly proposed in 2012 when researchers successfully stabilized single Pd atoms on the Cu(111) surface. However, earlier work in 2009, which focused on replacing one Au atom with a Pd atom in thiolate protected Au-25 nanoclusters, could also be considered as the pioneer work of single atom alloy. Both kinds of single atom alloys exhibited the potential of maximum utilization of scarce elements and attractive catalytic performances. The well-defined structures of SAA catalysts make accurate modeling possible, which further realizes the rational design of single atom alloy catalysts. In this review, we summarize the research trajectory of single atom alloys as well as recent achievements in this field. We also introduce several commonly adopted characterization methods for SAA catalysts such as scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), temperature programmed reaction (TPR), extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra, matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrum (MALDI-MS) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Through discussing recent progresses in SAA catalysts, we propose that future researches in this filed should be focused on exploring new kinds of metal nanocrystals and controlling the nanostructure of SAA even more precisely.