Atom Alloys

Atom Alloys develops catalysts based on single atom alloy (SAA) technology for various chemical reactions. Their catalysts consist of isolated single atoms of metals like platinum, copper, nickel, or palladium dispersed on nanoparticles of other metals like gold, silver, or copper. This unique structure allows breaking the scaling relationship of adsorption energies on traditional metal surfaces, leading to enhanced catalytic activity and selectivity.

SAA catalysts from Atom Alloys have shown promising results in reactions like propane dehydrogenation to propylene, CO2 reduction to hydrocarbons like methane, and selective hydrogenation of butadiene to butenes. In May 2022, they reported a platinum-copper SAA catalyst that achieved around 90% propylene selectivity and high stability over 120 hours at 520°C for propane dehydrogenation. Another SAA catalyst containing rhodium on gold or silver selectively reduced CO2 to methane with high faradaic efficiency. For ethanol conversion to butenes, their platinum-copper SAA exhibited unique reactivity by selectively hydrogenating butadiene using in-situ generated hydrogen.

Atom Alloys' SAA technology modifies the catalysts at the atomic level, weakening specific bonds or altering adsorption/desorption behavior to enhance selectivity toward desired products while suppressing undesired pathways. The integration of SAAs with zeolites like zinc-containing beta zeolite enables multifunctional catalyst systems for complex reactions.