Substrate strain tunes operando geometric distortion and oxygen reduction activity of CuN2C2 single-atom sites

Single-atom catalysts are becoming increasingly significant to numerous energy conversion reactions. However, their rational design and construction remain quite challenging due to the poorly understood structure-function relationship. Here we demonstrate the dynamic behavior of CuN2C2 site during operando oxygen reduction reaction, revealing a substrate-strain tuned geometry distortion of active sites and its correlation with the activity. Our...