Remote Synergy between Heterogeneous Single Atoms and Clusters for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution
Xilan Ding, Chuanyi Jia, Peiyu Ma, Huihuang Chen, Jiawei Xue, Dongdi Wang, Ruyang Wang, Heng Cao, Ming J. Zuo, Shiming Zhou, Zhirong Zhang, Jie Zeng, Jun Bao
Abstract
Integrating single atoms and clusters into one system is a novel strategy to achieve desired catalytic performances. Compared with homogeneous single-atom cluster catalysts, heterogeneous ones combine the merits of different species and therefore show greater potential. However, it is still challenging to construct single-atom cluster systems of heterogeneous species, and the underlying mechanism for activity improvement remains unclear. In this work, we developed a heterogeneous single-atom cluster catalyst (Co n Ir 1 /N–C) for efficient oxygen evolution. The Ir single atoms worked in synergy with the Co clusters at a distance of about 8 Å, which optimized the configuration of the key intermediates. Consequently, the oxygen evolution activity was significantly improved on Co n Ir 1 /N–C relative to the Co cluster catalyst (Co n /N–C), exhibiting an overpotential lower by 107 mV than that of Co n /N–C at 10 mA cm –2 and a turnover frequency 50.9 times as much as that of Co n /N–C at an overpotential of 300 mV.