Integrating Atomically Dispersed Sites with Versatile Oxide Supports to Construct Efficient Thermocatalysts: Toward Comprehensive Treatment of Flue Gas Pollutants

With the excessive combustion consumption of fossil fuels in industrial applications, some hazardous flue gas pollutants (CO, NOx, VOC, and Hg0) are emitted, leading to ever-increasing environmental pollution. The promising approach of thermocatalysis offers an effective solution to environmental challenges, and designing high-performance and cost-effective thermocatalysts is paramount. Recently, integrating atomically dispersed sites (ADSs) featuring attractive advantages (e.g., maximum atom utilization efficiency, well-defined active sites, low coordination environments, and unique electronic properties) with versatile metal oxide (MO) supports to construct MO-confined atomically dispersed catalysts (MO-confined ADCs) has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy for the thermocatalytic removal of various flue gas pollutants. In this review, we begin with a brief introduction of different types of ADCs and then illustrate the role of MO supports to better understand the key factors that determine their intrinsic activity. Then, the recent advances in this field are summarized with numerous examples, including individual and multiple pollutants. To meet the main technical challenges in thermocatalytic processes, the attractive strengths of MO-confined ADCs are discussed. In particular, the mechanistic details of catalysts facilitating the oxidation/reduction reactions are highlighted, and the structure–activity relationship is also revealed. Finally, future challenges and plausible development strategies are discussed. This review presents basic information for the advancement of MO-confined ADCs in flue gas pollutant removal, which is expected to improve the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of thermocatalytic processes, clearly stimulating the development in this emerging research field.