title: Creating single-atom Pt-ceria catalysts by surface step decoration.
abstract: Single-atom catalysts maximize the utilization of supported precious metals by exposing every single metal atom to reactants. To avoid sintering and deactivation at realistic reaction conditions, single metal atoms are stabilized by specific adsorption sites on catalyst substrates. Here we show by combining photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning tunnelling microscopy and density functional theory calculations that Pt single atoms on ceria are stabilized by the most ubiquitous defects on solid surfaces--monoatomic step edges. Pt segregation at steps leads to stable dispersions of single Pt(2+) ions in planar PtO4 moieties incorporating excess O atoms and contributing to oxygen storage capacity of ceria. We experimentally control the step density on our samples, to maximize the coverage of monodispersed Pt(2+) and demonstrate that step engineering and step decoration represent effective strategies for understanding and design of new single-atom catalysts.
authors.affiliation: Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, V Holešovičkách 2, Prague 18000, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dvořák
authors.affiliation: CNR-IOM DEMOCRITOS, Istituto Officina dei Materiali, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Bonomea 265, Trieste 34136, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9180-0115
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farnesi Camellone
authors.affiliation: Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, V Holešovičkách 2, Prague 18000, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Andrii
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tovt
authors.affiliation: CNR-IOM DEMOCRITOS, Istituto Officina dei Materiali, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Bonomea 265, Trieste 34136, Italy.|SISSA, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Bonomea 265, Trieste 34136, Italy.
authors.forename: Nguyen-Dung
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.affiliation: CNR-IOM DEMOCRITOS, Istituto Officina dei Materiali, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Bonomea 265, Trieste 34136, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Negreiros
authors.affiliation: Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, V Holešovičkách 2, Prague 18000, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Mykhailo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vorokhta
authors.affiliation: Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, V Holešovičkách 2, Prague 18000, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Skála
authors.affiliation: Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, V Holešovičkách 2, Prague 18000, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Iva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Matolínová
authors.affiliation: Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, V Holešovičkách 2, Prague 18000, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mysliveček
authors.affiliation: Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, V Holešovičkách 2, Prague 18000, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Vladimír
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Matolín
authors.affiliation: CNR-IOM DEMOCRITOS, Istituto Officina dei Materiali, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Bonomea 265, Trieste 34136, Italy.|SISSA, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Bonomea 265, Trieste 34136, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fabris