Single atom catalysts double up to link oxidation and reduction

Photosynthesis inspires dual electrolytic system where iron-supporting shell envelops palladium-supporting ‘yolk’

Chinese chemists have hatched yolk-shell nanostructures that they say are the first to integrate different metals as single atoms catalysts to achieve a tandem synthesis. ‘Our design concept is an important step to simulating enzyme catalysis or activation of inert chemical bonds,’ says Yuen Wu from the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei.