Single-Atom Catalysts for a New Generation of Chemical Processes: from Fundamental Understanding to Interface Engineering

The grand challenge for the chemical industries of the 21st century is the transition to more sustainable manufacturing processes that efficiently use raw materials and eliminate waste. Catalysis engineering is the key enabling technology to drive this transition, and single-atom catalysis is an emerging new approach to catalyst design. However, major questions concerning the local structure of these systems, their reactivity, and their evolution when prepared and structurally integrated into chemical devices are elusive.This project will address these important scientific gaps, laying the foundation for a new generation of catalysts for CO2 conversion. To unveil their microscale functioning, I will study for the first time the charge transfer taking place before, during, and after reactant adsorption and surface reactivity. This will be done combining synthesis, operando characterizations, microkinetics, and theoretical methods. Then, merging microreactor technology and process intensification, I will manufacture single-atom catalysts in powder and as miniaturized thin films or foams, using new, scalable and greener methods. This will bypass current limitations in terms of efficiency and metal dispersion, and close the gap on challenges related to catalyst-reactor integration, bridging chemical and device engineering. The materials will be validated in the valorization of CO2 to derive structure-function relationships and prove major catalytic improvements under realistic conditions.Overall, this is a fundamental and interdisciplinary project with ambitious objectives and high-risk/high-gain potential, that will go beyond the traditional pillars of catalysis. The scientific outcomes will provide new perspectives in catalysis and open paths in other fields, such as materials chemistry, green synthesis, and purification science. My pioneering contributions in this field and new proof-of-concept data place me in a unique position to undertake this fundamental study.