【Frontiers of HaiChuan Technology】A scientific concept originally created by Chinese people. Actively promote the industrialization of single-atom catalysts

Beyond the hills, new stories can be heard. In 1963, Zhang Tao was born in a rural area surrounded by mountains in Ankang City, Shaanxi Province. As a child, he often imagined what lay beyond the mountains. \"I want to leave the mountains and see the sea.\" In March 1978, Guo Moruo, then President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered a speech titled \"The Spring of Science\" at the closing ceremony of the National Science Conference. At that time, Zhang Tao, who was under 15 years old, was filled with enthusiasm: \"In those passionate times, ‘Master math, physics, and chemistry, and you’ll fear nothing in the world’ was our motto for striving forward; many young people were determined to use science to revitalize **, and I too resolved to become a scientist.\" ” Against the backdrop of society’s desire to produce talent earlier and more quickly, policies allow 2% of outstanding students in their first year of high school to take the college entrance exam ahead of time. Ankang Middle School, where Zhang Tao studies, selected 11 high-achieving first-year students, and Zhang Tao was among them. Being passionate about mathematics, he applied for a major related to it; however, since he had not taken courses beyond the second year of high school, he was eventually assigned to the Department of Chemistry at Shaanxi University of Technology. Having just started studying chemistry, Zhang Tao was drawn to its mysteries and gradually fell in love with this fascinating subject. However, at that time, local universities had relatively weak research capabilities and could not afford the necessary experimental equipment. This left Zhang Tao, who had aspired to become a scientist from an early age, a bit confused: “What should I do if I don’t have any experimental experience?” ” My first attempt at the postgraduate entrance exam ended in failure. In 1982, Zhang Tao was assigned to teach at his alma mater, Ankang Middle School, but he never gave up the idea of pursuing further education. “Having studied and lived for a long time in the Qinling and Bashan mountains in southern Shaanxi, I have developed a strong desire to see the world beyond those mountains, especially the sea. So when choosing where to pursue a master’s degree, I had two key criteria: one was to be by the sea, and the other was to select the best research institute in China. ”Zhang Tao said. In 1983, Zhang Taoru fulfilled his wish by coming to the beautiful coastal city of Dalian, where he was admitted to the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics to pursue his master’s and doctoral degrees. “It is one of the most important and right choices in my life. ”Zhang Tao said.

Thirty years of hard work led to the creation of an original international concept. As a leading institution in the field of catalysis research in China, the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics has fulfilled Zhang Tao’s dreams. Here, \"heroes are not judged by their background\"; as long as one has real skills, they can pursue research work with confidence. “I met Academician Lin Liwu and Researcher Zang Jingling, who introduced me to the field of catalytic chemistry. ”Zhang Tao said. Upon arriving at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, he began working under his supervisor on research regarding highly dispersed metal catalysts, which represented the precursor to single-atom catalysts. In 1995, the field of aerospace catalysts at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics was in a difficult situation, facing a shortage of successors. “The department head said, ‘Why not let the young people give it a try?’ ”Zhang Tao, 32 years old, was appointed as the head of the research team. Subsequently, Zhang Tao took charge of the development of aerospace catalysts. The hydrazine-water fuel decomposition catalyst he led in inventing was successfully applied in **missions, and he paved the way for the use of catalytic fuel decomposition technology in China’s aviation industry. He also developed anthropomorphic oxygen-consuming materials and components for the life support systems of spacecraft, which were applied in the Shenzhou series. At the same time, the efficient deoxidizer he developed is widely used in industries such as petrochemicals. While expanding and strengthening the research team, Zhang Tao began to think about new plans. Guided by the philosophy of \"taking **needs as one’s own responsibility,\" the idea of single-atom catalysis came to his mind. In many cases, the conditions under which chemical reactions occur are quite stringent; for example, at room temperature, a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen does not undergo a spontaneous chemical reaction to form water. However, the addition of the precious metal platinum enables such a reaction to take place at room temperature. Substances like platinum that can change the conditions of chemical reactions are called catalysts; therefore, catalysts are also referred to as the \"engines\" of the chemical industry. However, issues such as the high cost of precious metals and low atomic efficiency hinder the development of metal catalysts.

“The key to scientifically solving this problem lies in figuring out how to get the atoms, which tend to gather together, to arrange themselves neatly one by one, so that each atom can play a role in the catalytic process. ”Zhang Tao said. Over the years, Zhang Tao and his team have continuously explored the limits of highly dispersed metal catalysts. In 2011, they synthesized single-atom catalysts for the first time on an international scale and measured their catalytic performance, on which basis they proposed the original concept of \"single-atom catalysis\". In this catalyst, all the platinum is in a monatomic dispersed state, which not only ensures high stability but also results in a catalytic activity per site that is several times higher than that of conventional nanocatalysts. Single-atom catalysis is of great significance for understanding heterogeneous catalysis at the atomic level, and it also makes it possible to develop low-cost and highly efficient industrial catalysts based on precious metals. “As soon as the concept of \"single-atom catalysis\" was introduced, it sparked a global surge in research on single-atom catalysis. Zhang Tao said that single-atom catalysis holds great potential for application in many fields of chemistry, such as the conversion of clean energy, carbon dioxide reduction, environmental pollution treatment, the synthesis of bulk chemicals, and the synthesis of fine chemicals. Looking to the long term, research on catalysts should focus not only on their use in industrial applications but also in academic contexts. From the macroscopic concept of catalysis to nanocatalysis, and then to single-atom catalysis, Zhang Tao believes that a \"huge step forward\" has been made. Next, he aims to actively promote the industrialization of single-atom catalysts. “For those of us engaged in scientific research, there are mainly two pursuits. One is to get the products onto the market; the research and development efforts must result in actual products. Therefore, I hope to promote the concept of single-atom catalysis for widespread industrial application, thereby achieving true translation of research results into practical products. Another goal is to get these catalysts onto bookshelves; in the future, the concept of single-atom catalysis might be combined with artificial intelligence to enable the rational design and precise preparation of catalysts, thus establishing a systematic theory of single-atom catalysis. If this theory can make its way into textbooks, it will better demonstrate the universality and importance of the theory, as well as the contributions of scientists in our country to world science. ”Zhang Tao said. In addition to his contributions to scientific research, Zhang Tao often returns to his hometown of Ankang to give science popularization lectures to middle school students, sharing his experiences and insights on how he continued to learn and progress along the path of scientific research until he achieved success. Zhang Tao strongly agrees with the view that \"science knows no borders, but scientists have a homeland.\" He believes it is entirely normal for young people to have their own interests and pursuits, but they should also strive to contribute to society and to **development** as much as possible. He hopes that more young people will create miracles in the future world of science. (Originally published in China Science News, December 18, 2024, Page 1, Headlines)

Great article! ! Introduction to the Torch Tower and a detailed explanation of its functions: https://bbs.hcbbs.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=5675970 (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum [Haichuan Network])