Recent Progress in and Future Perspectives on High-Density Single-Atom Electrocatalysts

  • Yifan Zhang ,
  • Ting He ,
  • Jing Chen ,
  • Dingjie Pan ,
  • Xiaojuan Wang ,
  • Shaowei Chen ,
  • Xiaoping Ouyang
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  • 1. Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Materials and Application Technology of the Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, Hunan, China;
    2. Key Laboratory of Materials Design and Preparation Technology of Hunan Province, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, Hunan, China;
    3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA;
    4. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang 421000, Hunan, China

Received date: 2025-03-26

  Revised date: 2025-05-12

  Online published: 2026-01-13

Supported by

T.H. is thankful for the Xiangtan University Scientific Research Project Funding (No. 22QDZ51) and the Hunan Natural Science Foundation (No. 2024JJ6421). S.C. thanks the National Science Foundation for partial support of the work (CHE-1900235 and CHE-2003685).

Abstract

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) exhibit tremendous potential in electrocatalysis because of their high intrinsic activity and remarkable selectivity arising from their tunable electronic structures and maximal atom utilization. A high density of SACs is fundamental for enhancing the activity and durability during electrochemical reactions. In this review, we first summarize the leading strategies for the synthesis of metal single-atom electrocatalysts and the use of machine learning in the design and screening of SACs, with a focus on maximizing the metal loading through deliberate temperature control, followed by the application of such high-loading SACs to a range of important reactions in electrochemical energy technologies, such as the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), H2O2 electrosynthesis, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR), the nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR), and the reactions in lithium-sulfur batteries. The review concludes with a perspective highlighting the key challenges and future research directions in the development and application of high-density SACs.

Cite this article

Yifan Zhang , Ting He , Jing Chen , Dingjie Pan , Xiaojuan Wang , Shaowei Chen , Xiaoping Ouyang . Recent Progress in and Future Perspectives on High-Density Single-Atom Electrocatalysts[J]. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 2025 , 8(4) : 26 . DOI: 10.1007/s41918-025-00257-w

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