Nanocurvature-induced field effects enable control over the activity of single-atom electrocatalysts

Abstract Tuning interfacial electric fields provides a powerful means to control electrocatalyst activity. Importantly, electric fields can modify adsorbate binding energies based on their polarizability and dipole moment, and hence operate independently of scaling relations that fundamentally limit performance. However, implementation of such a strategy remains challenging because typical methods modify the electric field non-uniformly and affects only a minority of active sites. Here we discover that uniformly tunable electric field modulation can be achieved using a model system of single-atom catalysts (SACs). These consist of M-N 4 active sites hosted on a series of spherical carbon supports with varying…

• AF
  Agency for Science, Technology and Research

  Award: U2102d2002
• NR
  National Research Foundation Singapore

  Award: NRF-NRFF14-2022-0003
• NS
  National Supercomputing Centre Singapore