Pilot-Scale Continuous Synthesis of Pt Single-Atom Catalysts via Electron-Beam Processing in Ice Matrices

Radiation-induced reduction is used to synthesize nanoparticles owing to its strong reducing power. However, reduced metal atoms readily aggregate because of their enhanced mobility, localized heating, and precursor migration during synthesis. Consequently, achieving single-atom dispersion remains challenging, highlighting the need for a reaction environment that suppresses diffusion and heat-induced aggregation during irradiation. Here, we present a new radiation-induced synthesis strategy that effectively controls precursor migration and aggregation by employing a frozen-state environment. This approach enables the formation of a radiation-induced single-atom catalyst (RI-SAC) in which Pt precursors are atomically dispersed on the support surface. The resulting RI-SAC exhibits excellent activity toward both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), with a turnover frequency (TOF) and mass activity of up to 3.6 and approximately 8 times higher than those of commercial Pt/C, respectively. Moreover, the process is scalable, continuous, and capable of producing approximately 313 g of catalyst per tray at 1 min intervals, corresponding to a daily yield of nearly 446 kg. Therefore, this synthesis approach provides a versatile and industrially viable platform for the large-scale production of single-atom catalysts (SACs) based on various metals, such as Pd and Ir.