Search

The development of efficient catalysts is pivotal for pollution abatement to guarantee a sustainable and green industrial production. Supported single atom catalysts (SACs) with the advantages of maximum atom utilization, unique electronic structure, and distinguished metal support interaction have recently become a hotspot in the catalysis community, and bring new opportunities for environmental catalysis. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest progress on the environmental SACs from both the fundamental and practical points of view. It starts with highlighting the state‐of‐the‐art synthesis strategies of great values for the practical use to construct challenging SACs. The applications of SACs in the environmental remediation processes are critically summarized, including CO oxidation, NOx decomposition, volatile organic compounds incineration, CO2 conversion, and water purification. Meanwhile, the topic also sketches out the recent progress for the non‐mercury catalyzed acetylene hydrochlorination reaction to address the environmental‐benign synthesis. Emphasis is placed on the elucidation of the structure–activity relationships and the underlying catalytic mechanisms to shed light on the guidelines for catalyst optimization and upgradation. Finally, the remaining challenges and perspectives for this flourishing field are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of advanced carbon materials as metal-free catalysts holds great importance for mercury catalyst replacement in acetylene hydrochlorination. In this paper, we transform discarded cigarette butts into a porous nitrogen-doped carbon material (N-CB-800), exhibiting characteristics of high specific surface area, large N doping amount, defective structure and strong C2H2 chemical adsorption ability. These unique features endow N-CB-800 with a high catalytic performance with an acetylene conversion of 71.8% at 220 °C and an acetylene space velocity of 100 h−1, making it one of the most active metal-free catalysts. This work will be of great value for the recycling of living waste and provide meaningful guidance for the development of non-mercury catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]