Jul 13, 2026
Single-atom Catalysis Wins First Prize of State Natural Science Award
After decades of research, Zhang Tao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team proposed the concept of Single-Atom Catalysis in 2011. Instead of using groups of metal atoms, the approach spreads individual metal atoms across the surface of a supporting material, allowing each atom to act as an active site where chemical reactions take place.
This increases the use of precious metal atoms from only a few percent to nearly 100 percent.
The breakthrough was first demonstrated using platinum-group metals and has since been extended to more than 40 elements in the periodic table. In recognition of its fundamental contribution to catalysis research, the work received the first prize of the State Natural Science Award in Beijing on Wednesday.
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