Developing a class of dual atom materials for multifunctional catalytic reactions

Dual atom catalysts, bridging single atom and metal/alloy nanoparticle catalysts, offer more opportunities to enhance the kinetics and multifunctional performance of oxygen reduction/evolution and hydrogen evolution reactions. However, the rational design of efficient multifunctional dual atom catalysts remains a blind area and is challenging. In this study, we achieved controllable regulation from Co nanoparticles to CoN4 single atoms to Co2N5 dual atoms using an atomization and sintering strategy via an N-stripping and thermal-migrating process. More importantly, this strategy could be extended to the fabrication of 22 distinct dual atom catalysts. In particular, the Co2N5 dual atom with tailored spin states could achieve ideally balanced adsorption/desorption of intermediates, thus realizing superior multifunctional activity. In addition, it endows Zn-air batteries with long-term stability for 800 h, allows water splitting to continuously operate for 1000 h, and can enable solar-powered water splitting systems with uninterrupted large-scale hydrogen production throughout day and night. This universal and scalable strategy provides opportunities for the controlled design of efficient multifunctional dual atom catalysts in energy conversion technologies.