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Identification of the active sites in supported subnanometric metal catalysts

Identifying the active sites in supported catalysts comprising isolated metal atoms and subnanometric clusters is challenging because of the difficulty in obtaining detailed structural information under reaction conditions. Here, we discuss the limitations and pitfalls that may be encountered and provide suggestions accordingly.

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Fig. 1: Illustration of different types of supported metal catalysts.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for financial support from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Program’ (SEV-2016-0683).

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L.L. and A.C. wrote this Comment together.

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Correspondence to Avelino Corma.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Liu, L., Corma, A. Identification of the active sites in supported subnanometric metal catalysts. Nat Catal 4, 453–456 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-021-00632-y

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