Single atom materials are the pinnacle of electrocatalyst design as they expose every atom at the surface to reach the maximum utilisation of catalytically active metals. These single atom materials are able to lower the cost and improve the efficiency of catalysts that are used in electric cars and renewable energy storage cells. In this project, you will learn synthetic techniques to form nanoparticles decorated with single atoms. The state-of-the-art electron microscopes at the Centre of Advanced Microscopy at ANU will allow characterisation of complex nanocatalyst materials made of multiple metals with atomic-level precision. By controlling the position of Pt atoms on different metal nanoparticle structures, both electrocatalytic activity and stability will be optimised to create the most advanced and effective nanoparticle catalysts.

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Single Pt atoms on a nanoparticle support used to efficiently convert methanol to CO₂.