2024年10月9日　Development of gold single atom catalysts

Supporting gold as nanoparticles of 5 nm or less on a support and maintaining their size during long-term use is difficult for some types of support materials, and attempts to create catalyst materials have been the subject of ongoing research. In addition, the next topic of worldwide focus is single-atom catalysts. In our laboratory, we are studying the catalytic activity of single-atom catalysts in which gold is dispersed to a single-atom state. Dispersing gold to a single-atom state requires the same research ingenuity as supporting nanoparticles. We are studying the catalytic activity of the prepared materials by precisely designing the supports so that gold can be dispersed in a single-atom form.

An example of a gold single-atom catalyst (HAADF-STEM image of 1 wt% Au/NiO)
As indicated by the arrows, the brighter spots in the figure indicate Au atoms.