Design principles of single-atom catalysts anchored over porous materials for green catalysis and conversion

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) are drawing widespread attention because of high atomic availability, strong metal-support interaction (SMSI), high activity, and selectivity. The porous materials are potential supports for anchoring single atoms due to their ultrahigh surface areas and homogeneously adjustable channel structure. The SACs stabilized over the porous materials, such as zeolites, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), carbon nitride (CN), and other mesoporous materials (silica, metal oxides), have been extensively explored nowadays. In this review, we summarize and highlight the latest studies in microenvironment regulation of single atom active centers through a full-scale comparison over porous materials anchored SACs in the advancement of structure characteristics, modulation strategy, characterizations, and reaction implementations. The precise electronic and geometric configurations of isolated metal atoms can be modulated through the strong interaction between the metals and supports of porous materials. Furthermore, recent progress of certain typical catalytic reaction is comprehensively explored to receive in-depth analysis of the catalytic mechanisms over the well-regulated SACs based on advanced techniques. Finally, the principal challenges and outlooks of porous materials supported SACs toward potential catalytic reaction are also suggested and expected. This work will offer novel perspectives on the progression of well distributed catalysts for a series of practical application.