General synthesis of neighboring dual-atomic sites with a specific pre-designed distance via an interfacial-fixing strategy

Yan Yan, Rui Yu, Mingkai Liu (), Zehua Qu, Jifeng Yang, Siyuan He, Hongliang Li () and Jie Zeng ()
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Yan Yan: Anhui University of Technology
Rui Yu: Anhui University of Technology
Mingkai Liu: Anhui University of Technology
Zehua Qu: Fudan University
Jifeng Yang: Anhui University of Technology
Siyuan He: Anhui University of Technology
Hongliang Li: University of Science and Technology of China
Jie Zeng: Anhui University of Technology

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract A potential non-precious metal catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction should contain metal-N4 moieties. However, most of the current strategies to regulate the distances between neighboring metal sites are not pre-designed but depend on the probability by tuning the metal loading or the support. Herein, we report a general method for the synthesis of neighboring metal-Nx moieties (metal = Fe, Cu, Co, Ni, Zn, and Mn) via an interfacial-fixing strategy. Specifically, polydopamine is used to coat nanotemplates made of metal oxides, followed by pyrolysis to form a metal-oxide skeleton coated by rich nitrogen-doped carbon shells. After chemically etching the skeleton, only interfacial metal atoms strongly bonded with the support via nitrogen atoms are retained. The high purity (>95%) of dual Fe sites was confirmed by both the direct visualization of local regions and the indirect evidence of the averaged information. When these neighboring metal-Nx moieties are applied for oxygen reduction reaction, Fe-Nx moieties exhibit the superior activity, even outperforming commercial Pt/C in the aspects of the half-wave potential, methanol tolerance, carbon monoxide tolerance, and robustness.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55630-y

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