Work

Synthesis of atomically dispersed catalysts via hydrogen embrittlement-like assisted thermal activation for acidic oxygen reduction

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Atomically dispersed catalysts based on 3d metals have been extensively explored in the catalytic field, but stabilizing 4d and 5d metals like Ru, Pd, and Pt as single atoms remains a challenge due to their high cohesive energies. Herein, we develop a hydrogen-embrittlement-inspired strategy that leverages H2 permeation to weaken metal-metal cohesion in 4d/5d metal clusters during high-temperature synthesis. Hydrogen diffuses into the clusters, driving their dissociation into individual atoms, which are subsequently stabilized by nitrogen dopants in carbon supports, resulting in the formation of stable M-N4 single-atom sites. Taking Ru as a model system, ex-situ microscopy and spectroscopy offer definitive evidence that hydrogen permeation disrupts Ru-Ru bonding interactions, facilitating the conversion of Ru clusters into isolated RuN4 sites during the H2-assisted thermal activation process. Consequently, the prepared NC-Ru-950 catalyst achieves satisfactory activity and stability for acidic oxygen reduction and proton exchange membrane fuel cells. This work introduces a robust and universal strategy for stabilizing 4d and 5d transition metals as single-atom catalysts, offering a promising route to develop high-performance electrocatalysts. Stabilizing 4d/5d metals as single atoms for catalysis is challenging due to their strong tendency to cluster. Here, the authors develop a hydrogen embrittlement-like assisted thermal activation strategy that prepares Ru-based single-atom catalysts, which achieve high performance in fuel cells.

Source: Nature Communications

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71340-z