Crystal Field Engineering of Bioinspired Dual‐Metal Single‐Atom Catalysts Via Spin‐State Modulation for Efficient Oxygen Electroreduction

ABSTRACT The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is central to next‐generation energy technologies, but its practical implementation is constrained by inherently sluggish kinetics. Herein, we propose a bioinspired strategy that synergistically integrate atomic‐scale crystal field engineering and hierarchical porosity design, effectively tackling the intrinsic activity and mass transport limitations of ORR. This strategy is realized in a Fe/Co dual‐metallic single‐atom sites anchored on hierarchical meso/microporous N‐doped carbon matrices (MPNC‐FeCo‐x). The optimized MPNC‐FeCo‐4 exhibits remarkable ORR performance with a half‐wave potential of 0.923 V and a turnover frequency of 2.01 e – site −1 s −1 in alkaline media. When deployed in zinc‐air batteries, it delivers an ultrahigh peak power density of 232.81 mW cm −2 and unprecedented cycling stability over 800 h. Mechanistic studies reveal that Co atoms modulate the crystal field to induce the spin transition of Fe species to medium spin ( t 2g 4 e g 1 configuration), while the hierarchical pore architecture enhancing charge and mass transfer. Advanced stepwise interfacial kinetic analysis quantifies how the enhanced intrinsic activity and the optimized mass transport cooperate to enhance ORR performance. This work establishes a paradigm for manipulating spin states via rational crystal field design in multi‐metallic single‐atom systems, providing fundamental insights into structure‐activity relationships for energy conversion technologies.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Materials
Published
2026-06-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.73739
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Crystal Field Engineering of Bioinspired Dual‐Metal Single‐Atom Catalysts Via Spin‐State Modulation for Efficient Oxygen Electroreduction

Xiannong Tang, Dirk Lützenkirchen−Hecht, Yiwang Chen, Liansheng Lan et al.
Advanced Materials
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
article

Crystal Field Engineering of Bioinspired Dual‐Metal Single‐Atom Catalysts Via Spin‐State Modulation for Efficient Oxygen Electroreduction

Xiannong Tang, Dirk Lützenkirchen−Hecht, Yiwang Chen, Liansheng Lan, Kai Yuan, Yangfan Pei, Ting Hu, Longbin Li
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is central to next‐generation energy technologies, but its practical implementation is constrained by inherently sluggish kinetics. Herein, we propose a bioinspired strategy that synergistically integrate atomic‐scale crystal field engineering and hierarchical porosity design, effectively tackling the intrinsic activity and mass transport limitations of ORR. This strategy is realized in a Fe/Co dual‐metallic single‐atom sites anchored on hierarchical meso/microporous N‐doped carbon matrices (MPNC‐FeCo‐x). The optimized MPNC‐FeCo‐4 exhibits remarkable ORR performance with a half‐wave potential of 0.923 V and a turnover frequency of 2.01 e – site −1 s −1 in alkaline media. When deployed in zinc‐air batteries, it delivers an ultrahigh peak power density of 232.81 mW cm −2 and unprecedented cycling stability over 800 h. Mechanistic studies reveal that Co atoms modulate the crystal field to induce the spin transition of Fe species to medium spin ( t 2g 4 e g 1 configuration), while the hierarchical pore architecture enhancing charge and mass transfer. Advanced stepwise interfacial kinetic analysis quantifies how the enhanced intrinsic activity and the optimized mass transport cooperate to enhance ORR performance. This work establishes a paradigm for manipulating spin states via rational crystal field design in multi‐metallic single‐atom systems, providing fundamental insights into structure‐activity relationships for energy conversion technologies.

Advanced Materials
Qingdao University (CN), Nanchang University (CN), Qingdao University of Science and Technology (CN), University of Wuppertal (DE), Gannan Normal University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
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