Ionic Exchange of Metal−Organic Frameworks for Constructing Unsaturated Copper Single‐Atom Catalysts for Boosting Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Regulating the coordination environment of atomically dispersed catalysts is vital for catalytic reaction but still remains a challenge. Herein, an ionic exchange strategy is developed to fabricate atomically dispersed copper (Cu) catalysts with controllable coordination structure. In this process, the adsorbed Cu ions exchange with Zn nodes in ZIF-8 under high temperature, resulting in the trapping of Cu atoms within the cavities of the metal-organic framework, and thus forming Cu single-atom catalysts. More importantly, altering pyrolysis temperature can effectively control the structure of active metal center at atomic level. Specifically, higher treatment temperature (900 °C) leads to unsaturated Cu-nitrogen architecture (CuN3 moieties) in atomically dispersed Cu catalysts. Electrochemical test indicates atomically dispersed Cu catalysts with CuN3 moieties possess superior oxygen reduction reaction performance than that with higher Cu-nitrogen coordination number (CuN4 moieties), with a higher half-wave potential of 180 mV and the 10 times turnover frequency than that of CuN4 . Density functional theory calculation analysis further shows that the low N coordination number of Cu single-atom catalysts (CuN3 ) is favorable for the formation of O2 * intermediate, and thus boosts the oxygen reduction reaction.