Transition Metal Single Atoms Constructed by Using Inherent Confined Space
Meng‐Xuan Gu, Le-Ping Gao, Song‐Song Peng, Shi‐Chao Qi, Xiang‐Bin Shao, Xiao‐Qin Liu, Lin‐Bing Sun
Abstract
Single-atom catalysts (SACs) show expressively enhanced activity toward diverse reactions due to maximized atomic utilization of metal sites, while their facile, universal, and massive preparation remains a pronounced challenge. Here we report a facile strategy for the preparation of SACs by use of the inherent confined space between the template and silica walls in template-occupied mesoporous silica SBA-15 (TOS). Different transition metal precursors can be introduced into the confined space readily by grinding, and during succeeding calcination single atoms are constructed in the form of M–O–Si (M = Cu, Co, Ni, and Zn). In addition to the generality, the present strategy is easy to scale up and can allow the synthesis of 10 g of SACs in one pot through ball milling. The Cu SAC has been applied for CO 2 cycloaddition of epichlorohydrin, and the activity is obviously higher than the counterpart prepared without confined space and various reported Cu-containing catalysts.