催化学报 ›› 2026, Vol. 91: 68-92.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(26)65261-8

• 综述 • 上一篇    下一篇

光催化领域中的原子级分散助催化剂: 从单原子、双原子到高熵合金

陈挺, 吴思宇, 吕康乐, 李覃*()   

  1. 中南民族大学催化转化与能源材料化学教育部重点实验室, 湖北省催化材料科学重点实验室, 湖北武汉 430074
  • 收稿日期:2026-05-26 接受日期:2026-06-13 出版日期:2026-12-18 发布日期:2026-10-13
  • 通讯作者: *电子信箱: liqin0518@mail.scuec.edu.cn (李覃).
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金(21972171);中南民族大学中央高校基本科研业务费(CZZ25013);中南民族大学学术创新团队基金(XTZ24019)

Atomically dispersed cocatalysts for photocatalysis: From single and dual atoms to high-entropy alloys

Ting Chen, Siyu Wu, Kangle Lv, Qin Li*()   

  1. Key Laboratory of Catalysis and Energy Materials Chemistry of Ministry of Education and Hubei Key Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials Science, South-Central Minzu University, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China
  • Received:2026-05-26 Accepted:2026-06-13 Online:2026-12-18 Published:2026-10-13
  • About author:Qin Li (School of Chemistry and Materials Science, South Central Minzu University) was invited as a member of the 6th Young Editorial Board of Chin. J. Catal.. She received a Ph.D degree in Materials Science from Wuhan University of Technology in 2014, and thereafter worked in the School of Chemistry and Materials Science in South-Central Minzu University. She was co-trained as a graduate student in 2010-2011 at the National Nanoscience Center, and she carried out a CSC project in the Domen-Hisatomi lab in Shinshu University (Japan) from 2024 to 2025. Over the last 12 years, her research has focused on photocatalytic hydrogen production from water splitting over metal sulfide based composite materials. Prof. Li has published related papers with over 11610 citations with an H-index of 53. She has been ranked among the top 100,000 scientists in the world in 2022, and also listed as one of the Top 2% scientists sourced from ELSEVIER and Standford Univeristy in 2024 and 2025.
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(21972171);the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of South-Central Minzu University(CZZ25013);the Fund for Academic Innovation Teams of South-Central Minzu University(XTZ24019)

摘要:

随着能源转换和环境修复需求的日益增长, 光催化因其绿色、可再生和反应条件温和等特点, 已成为太阳能高效利用和小分子转化的重要途径. 助催化剂的引入能够促进光生载流子分离, 并调控表面反应过程, 是提升光催化性能的有效策略. 近年来, 原子级分散助催化剂因其明确的配位结构、最大化的金属原子利用率和独特的电子调控能力受到广泛关注, 为连接多相催化与均相催化, 以及理解光催化构效关系提供了重要平台. 该领域已从单原子位点逐步拓展至具有协同作用的双原子位点, 并进一步发展到组成和结构更加复杂的高熵合金. 因此, 本文将单原子、双原子和高熵合金助催化剂作为连续发展的研究体系, 系统总结其合成方法、稳定策略、结构特点及其在光催化能源和小分子转化中的应用进展.
首先, 本文概述了单原子助催化剂的结构特点与作用机制, 包括金属单原子与载体之间的配位锚定、缺陷限域、杂原子配位和强金属-载体相互作用等稳定化方式. 单原子位点能够作为高效的电子捕获中心和反应活性中心, 促进光生载流子的定向迁移, 并调节水分解、CO2还原和选择性氧化还原反应中的关键中间体吸附行为. 随后, 本文进一步讨论了双原子助催化剂的设计理念和协同催化机制. 与单原子位点相比, 双原子位点不仅保留了高原子利用率, 还能够通过相邻金属原子之间的电子耦合、几何协同和双活性中心效应, 优化多电子/多质子转移过程, 降低关键反应步骤的能垒, 提高光催化反应活性和产物选择性. 在此基础上, 本文重点介绍了高熵合金助催化剂在光催化领域中的新兴应用. 高熵合金由多种金属元素组成, 具有复杂的组成空间、可调控的电子结构以及潜在的协同效应, 可为复杂光催化反应提供多类型活性位点, 并通过熵稳定效应提升催化剂结构稳定性. 本文还总结了热解、光沉积、原子层沉积、缺陷工程、配位调控和限域合成等常用制备方法, 并结合原位/准原位表征、X-射线吸收谱、电子显微技术以及密度泛函理论计算等手段, 阐述了原子级分散助催化剂在光催化水分解、CO2还原、生物质转化及相关能源和小分子转化反应中的结构和性能关系. 总体来看, 合理调控金属原子的种类、配位环境、空间分布和载体界面结构, 是提升光催化活性、选择性和稳定性的关键.
综上, 原子级分散助催化剂的发展为构建高效光催化体系提供了新的思路, 也为揭示光催化反应机理和精确调控活性位点奠定了重要基础. 未来仍需在可控制备、真实结构解析、长期稳定性评价、多活性位点协同机制以及理论计算与实验表征结合等方面深入研究. 随着先进合成技术、原位表征方法和理论模拟的发展, 单原子、双原子及高熵合金助催化剂有望在太阳能燃料合成和绿色小分子转化中发挥更重要作用.

关键词: 光催化, 单原子, 双原子, 高熵合金, 催化应用

Abstract:

With increasing demands for energy conversion and environmental remediation, photocatalysis has become an important route for efficient solar-energy utilization and small-molecule conversion owing to its green and renewable characteristics. Atomically dispersed photocatalytic cocatalysts, featuring unique structures and maximized atom utilization, bridge heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis. In recent years, this field has developed rapidly from single-atom catalysts to synergistic dual-atom sites and further to structurally complex high-entropy alloys. This review systematically summarized recent progress in atomically dispersed cocatalysts from single atoms and dual atoms to high-entropy alloys. Emphasis was placed on their synthetic methodologies, stabilization strategies, structure-performance relationships, and experimental and theoretical advances in photocatalytic water splitting, CO2 reduction, biomass conversion, and related energy and small-molecule transformations. Finally, current challenges and prospects of atomically dispersed cocatalysts are discussed.

Key words: Photocatalysis, Single atom, Dual atoms, High-entropy alloys, Catalytic application