Laser solid-phase synthesis of single-atom catalysts

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) with atomically dispersed catalytic sites have shown outstanding catalytic performance in a variety of reactions. However, the development of facile and high-yield techniques for the fabrication of SACs remains challenging. In this paper, we report a laser-induced solid-phase strategy for the synthesis of Pt SACs on graphene support. Simply by rapid laser scanning/irradiation of a freeze-dried electrochemical graphene oxide (EGO) film loaded with chloroplatinic acid (H₂PtCl₆), we enabled simultaneous pyrolysis of H₂PtCl₆ into SACs and reduction/graphitization of EGO into graphene. The rapid freezing of EGO hydrogel film infused with H₂PtCl₆ solution in liquid nitrogen and the subsequent ice sublimation by freeze-drying were essential to achieve the atomically dispersed Pt. Nanosecond pulsed infrared (IR; 1064 nm) and picosecond pulsed ultraviolet (UV; 355 nm) lasers were used to investigate the effects of laser wavelength and pulse duration on the SACs formation mechanism. The atomically dispersed Pt on graphene support exhibited a small overpotential of −42.3 mV at −10 mA cm⁻² for hydrogen evolution reaction and a mass activity tenfold higher than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst. This method is simple, fast and potentially versatile, and scalable for the mass production of SACs.