Researchers from OIST and CNR-ISM developed atomically-tailored single-atom platforms using a polymer architecture. The work, published in Nature Communications, overcomes stability issues and enables strong gas binding, paving the way for efficient industrial catalysts
A team of researchers, including scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University and the National Research Council (CNR-ISM) in Italy, has developed a new approach to create single-atom platforms with precisely designed active sites. This work, published in Nature Communications, marks a major advance toward more efficient and sustainable industrially relevant catalysis by enabling strong gas binding at stable, well-defined single-atom sites.
Overcoming challenges in single-atom catalysis
Catalysts are vital for processes ranging from metallurgy to pharmaceutical production. To maximise efficiency and reduce environmental impact, science has pushed toward single-atom catalysts (SACs), which occupy the boundary between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. However, working with individual atoms presents enormous challenges. It is difficult to overcome their tendency to aggregate into clusters, especially at temperatures above cryogenic levels, and it is complex to arrange them precisely in specific chemical environments.
The team, which also included collaborators from Empa (Switzerland) and the University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy), developed a method using on-surface synthesis (OSS) and atomic-resolution scanning probe microscopy techniques to address these limitations.
Designing tunable active sites
The scientists successfully fabricated one-dimensional organic polymers that are capable of selectively binding metal atoms at well-defined coordination sites. This is the first time such a polymer-based architecture has been achieved. The key lies in the use of periodic side extensions that are carefully designed to provide tunable active sites.
Lead author Dr. Marco Di Giovannantonio, head of the ONSET Lab at CNR-ISM and Visiting Researcher at OIST, explained the goal: “To achieve maximum catalytic efficiency, we must ensure each atom of our catalyst is accessible to reagents – this isn’t possible in bulk materials or clusters, where inner atoms are hidden. But it’s something nature does extremely well, with enzymes showing extraordinary efficiency and selectivity based off single metal atoms or small clusters within tailored molecular environments.”
He noted that their method “opens up a new avenue toward near-enzymatic catalysts, by isolating metal atoms in uniform sites along polymer chains with remarkable stability, even above room temperature.” The design is adaptable, working with a range of metals and ligands.
Enhanced gas binding for deeper understanding
A theoretical study found that the unique structure of these single-atom platforms—specifically, their open and undercoordinated environment—enabled significantly stronger binding of gases such as CO, O2, and H2, compared with other commonly investigated structures.
This enhanced binding illustrates the platform’s potential for obtaining a deeper understanding of industrially important catalytic reactions that require the selective stabilisation of intermediates, such as the conversion of CO2 into valuable products.
Professor Akimitsu Narita, head of the Organic and Carbon Nanomaterials Unit at OIST, summarised the contribution: “This work not only introduces a new strategy for constructing single-atom catalysts with atomically defined reaction centres, but also lays the foundation for the rational design of organometallic nanomaterials for various future applications.”
