Universal Interface Metal Imprinting for Surface-Selective Synthesis of Mesoporous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Supported Single-Atom Catalysts
Zeyu Hu, Cancan Li, Ying Shao, Feiyan Feng, Xiaoning Wang, Zhangxiong Wu（吴张雄）*
Particle Engineering Laboratory, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Interfacial Materials Science, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, P. R. China
Adv. Funct. Mater., 2026, 36, e75535
Abstract: Metal aggregation and insufficient site exposure are common issues in fabricating metal-nitrogen-carbon single-atom catalysts(SACs). Herein, a universal interface metal imprinting (IMI) strategy is proposed for surface-selective synthesis of nitrogen-dopedordered mesoporous carbon (NOMC) supported SACs. It involves constructing an intimate and full-coverage interface between ametal-atom-doped template (typically Fe-doped SBA-15) and a nanocast N-doped carbon, followed by metal migration from thetemplate framework to the interface and imprinting onto the N-doped carbon surface. Density Functional Theory calculationsand characterizations confirm the IMI process’s thermodynamic feasibility and high efficiency. The resulting NOMC supported Fe SAC (Fesurf-NOMC) features ordered mesoporosity, high site density (1.71 × 1019 sites g−1), and excellent surface exposure. It exhibits superb oxygen reduction reaction performance with a half-wave potential of 0.92 V, a turnover frequency of 4.31 e site−1 s−1 ,and a high stability, outperforming counterparts prepared by co-nanocasting and post-loading. The aqueous zinc-air battery using Fesurf -NOMC as the cathode shows excellent performance with a peak power density of 194.7 mW cm−2 and a specific capacity of 807.8 mAh g Zn−1. The IMI strategy is applicable to different templates and metals, providing a platform for fabricating ordered or disordered mesoporous surface-enriched SACs.
Article information: https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.75535