Tuning the Coordination Environment of Carbon‐Based Single‐Atom Catalysts via Doping with Multiple Heteroatoms and Their Applications in Electrocatalysis

Abstract

AbstractCarbon‐based single‐atom catalysts (SACs) are considered to be a perfect platform for studying the structure–activity relationship of different reactions due to the adjustability of their coordination environment. Multi‐heteroatom doping has been demonstrated as an effective strategy for tuning the coordination environment of carbon‐based SACs and enhancing catalytic performance in electrochemical reactions. Herein, recently developed strategies for multi‐heteroatom doping, focusing on the regulation of single‐atom active sites by heteroatoms in different coordination shells, are summarized. In addition, the correlation between the coordination environment and the catalytic activity of carbon‐based SACs are investigated through representative experiments and theoretical calculations for various electrochemical reactions. Finally, concerning certain shortcomings of the current strategies of doping multi‐heteroatoms, some suggestions are put forward to promote the development of carbon‐based SACs in the field of electrocatalysis.