Synthesis of MnM–NC (M = Ga, In, Sn) dual-single-atom catalysts for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen reduction

Synthesis of MnM–NC (M = Ga, In, Sn) dual-single-atom catalysts for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen reduction

Journal of Materials Chemistry A

10.1039/D5TA05397H

https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA05397H

Yujie Cui, Yihong Liu, Jiayi Li, Haibin Ma, Tingting Pan, Hainan Wei, Xinyue Shi, Xiaoyan Zhou, Ping Zhang, Weixing Niu, Shengnan Sun, Menghao Yang, Wei-Hsiang Huang, Jiwei Ma, Hongfei Cheng

29 August 2025

Cui, Y., Liu, Y., Li, J., Ma, H., Pan, T., Wei, H., Shi, X., Zhou, X., Zhang, P., Niu, W., Sun, S., Yang, M., Huang, W.-H., Ma, J., & Cheng, H. (2025). Synthesis of MnM–NC (M = Ga, In, Sn) dual-single-atom catalysts for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen reduction. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 13, 34447-34455. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ta05397h

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an important reaction in the field of energy conversion and storage. Manganese-based catalysts are expected to be alternative candidates to iron-based or platinum-group catalysts by virtue of their low cost, good stability and resistance to Fenton reactions. The easily tunable localized p-orbitals of p-block metals and the d-orbitals of manganese can hybridize, which facilitates the oxygen reduction process. Here, we have designed and synthesized a series of dual-single-atom catalysts that consist of Mn and p-block metal single atoms dispersed on N-doped carbon, denoted as MnM–NC (M = Ga/In/Sn). After introducing p-block metal single atoms, the half-wave potential of the catalysts increases to 0.85 V (vs. RHE), and their stability is also improved, even surpassing that of commercial Pt/C. Theoretical calculations show that the dual-single-atom sites could adjust the d-band center of the Mn site, weakening the adsorption strength of the intermediate *OH, thus improving the ORR catalytic activity. This work provides insights into the coupling of Mn–NC species with p-block metals to improve ORR performance and also inspires more structural and application innovations of p-block metals in the ORR research field.

Publisher Copyright

There was no specific funding for the research done

https://oar.a-star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/22363

2050-7496

Institute of Materials Research and Engineering