Creation of two polymer based high-density single atom catalyst libraries

The synthesis of single atom catalysts (SACs) has undergone a lot of development due to their unique characteristics, which merge features of both homogenous and heterogenous catalysis. While the majority of SACs have relatively low loadings (~ <2 wt% metal), high-density (HD) SACs are far less explored. This proposal aims to advance the field of HD-SACs by using two different polymerisation-based approaches for the synthesis of these catalysts. Employing 1,10-Phenanthrolin-5,6-dione as a ligand we are able to produce a library of HD-SACs with different metals. Alternatively, upon synthesis of a porphyrin polymer support and a subsequent metal coordination we are able to produce conductive HD-SACs. Our proposed synchrotron work will investigate the electronic configurations of the HD-SACs libraries we generate, using extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (XANES)