Designing Single-atom Catalysts and Nanocatalysts for Hydrogen Production and Utilization

Speaker: Professor Taeghwan Hyeon, Seoul National University

Abstract:
For the last decade, our group has developed several synthetic methods to produce single-atom catalysts and nanocatalysts for photo-& electro-catalytic hydrogen production and utilization. We report highly active single-atom Cu/TiO2 photocatalysts for hydrogen generation and CO2 photoreduction (Nature Mater. 2019, 18, 620; Energy Environ. Sci. 2022, 15, 601). We demonstrated a general method for synthesizing atomically dispersed (photo)catalysts via photochemical defect tuning for controlling oxygen vacancy dynamics (Nature Mater. 2024, 23, 552). We presented a floatable photocatalytic platform constructed from elastomer-hydrogel nanocomposites, demonstrating its superiority over conventional systems in solar hydrogen production (Nature Nanotech. 2023, 18, 754). We propose a strategy involving polymeric stabilization of photocatalytic centers uniquely localized at the gas-liquid interface, substantially enhancing both catalytic activity and stability (Nature Nanotech. 2025, 20, 1237).

Electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays a pivotal role in the mass production of hydrogen fuel and chemical feedstocks (ACS Energy Lett. 2026, 11, 245). We report that doping aluminum (Al) into RuO2 (Ir-free) and RuIrOx (low-Ir) leads to outstanding activity and excellent durability for OER at a high current density (Chem 2023, 9, 3600). When acid-stable d0-metal, Ta, is atomically incorporated into RuO2, the resulting Ta1/RuO2 catalyst demonstrates exceptional OER performance (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 16179). We report on the activation of Ir-doped CoMn2O4 in acidic electrolyte that leads to enhanced activity and stability in acidic OER for long-term PEMWE operation (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 2369). We demonstrated that Ta-doped Co3O4 exhibits low overpotential, while maintaining high catalytic activity for over 140 hours in acidic OER (Energy Environ. Sci. 2024, 17, 3628). We found that a tiny amount of Pt incorporated within the Co3O4 spinel lattice can function as a redox-active buffer, diverting oxidative stress away from the cobalt matrix during OER (Adv. Mater. In Press, adma.202522703). We demonstrate that active machine-learning on even small datasets – but supplemented by informative structural-characterization data and coupled with close-loop experimentation – can discover a “champion” four-metal perovskite oxide OER catalyst (Nature Mater. 2024, 23, 108).

We synthesized highly active and stable electrocatalysts for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production including Co-N4(O) moiety incorporated in nitrogen-doped graphene (Co1-NG(O)) (Nature Mater. 2020, 19, 436), cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) immobilized on oxidized carbon nanotube substrate (Nature Catal. 2023, 6, 234), and cobalt single atoms on hierarchical porous nanofibers (Adv. Mater. 2025, 37, 2418489). We present a synthesis of highly durable and active fuel cell electrocatalysts based on ordered M-Pt alloy nanoparticles for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in PEMFC (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 15478; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 14190; Energy Environ. Sci. 2023, 16, 1146).

If you would like to schedule a meeting with Prof. Hyeon, please contact Prof. Erwin Reisner directly er376@cam.ac.uk

Bio:
Taeghwan Hyeon received his Bachelor in Science (1987) and Masters in Science (1989) degrees from Seoul National University, and Ph.D. degree (1996) from UIUC, all in Chemistry Department. He is a Seoul National UniversityDistinguished Professor, and a Director of Center for Nanoparticle Research of Institute for Basic Science (IBS). He is recognized for his outstanding contributions in scalable synthesis of uniform-sized nanoparticles and related nanomaterials for energy & catalysis & medical applications. He was listed in Highly Cited Researcher (2014~25), and chosen as 2020 Citation Laureate in Chemistry. He received 2022 Grand Prize of National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK), 2016 Presidential Best Scientist Award, 2012 Samsung Hoam Prize, and 2008 POSCO-T.J. Park Award. He is an elected Member of KAST & NAEK in Korea, US National Academy of Engineering, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and Royal Society of Chemistry. He has served as Associate Editor of JACS, and now of ACS Nano.