Atomically dispersed metal catalysts (AMC) provide superb catalytic performance and 100 % atom utilization. AMC provide an almost perfect solution to the limitations of poor selectivity and high power consumption in semiconductor gas sensor applications. Herein, we report the synthesis of AMC ZnNC materials and their application as highly selective room temperature gas sensors for the first time. Various characterization methods including scanning transmission electron microscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy corroborate the presence of atomically dispersed Zn with ZnNC₂ coordination. As a sample of AMC for gas detection, the AMC ZnNC₂-based sensor has 25 % response to 1500 ppm ethanol (C₂H₅OH) at room temperature (∼25 °C) with excellent selectivity. Density functional theory calculations revealed that ethanol was chemically absorbed on ZnNC₂ by forming a strong Zn-O bond, leading to obvious charge transfer from ethanol to ZnNC_2. The sensor response can be attributed to the chemical adsorption of ethanol molecules rather than a redox reaction on the ZnNC₂ surface. The approach proposed here should yield similar novel developments in gas sensing.

原子分散的金属催化剂（AMC）具有出色的催化性能和100％的原子利用率。对于半导体气体传感器应用中选择性差和功耗高的局限性，AMC提供了几乎完美的解决方案。本文中，我们首次报道了AMC ZnNC材料的合成及其在高选择性室温气体传感器中的应用。包括扫描透射电子显微镜和X射线吸收光谱在内的各种表征方法证实了以ZnNC ₂配位的原子分散锌的存在。作为用于气体检测的AMC样品，基于AMC ZnNC ₂的传感器对1500 ppm乙醇（C ₂ H ₅OH）在室温（〜25°C）下具有出色的选择性。密度泛函理论计算表明，乙醇通过形成牢固的Zn-O键而化学吸附在ZnNC ₂上，从而导致从乙醇到ZnNC ₂的明显电荷转移_。传感器响应可归因于乙醇分子的化学吸附而不是氧化还原在ZnNC ₂表面发生反应。这里提出的方法应该在气体传感方面产生类似的新颖发展。