Single-atom alloys prepared by two-step thermal evaporation

Single-atom alloys (SAAs) have gained significant attention due to their remarkable atomic utilization efficiency, interactions between single atoms (SAs) and metal supports, and free-atom-like electronic structure of dopant elements. In this work, we observed the formation of SAs in pre-deposited metal particles by a two-step thermal evaporation technique, thereby establishing the first instance of discovering SAAs by thermal evaporation. The discovery of SAAs by thermal evaporation extends the range of SAAs preparation methods to include this traditional synthetic technique, which offers convenience, cost-efficiency, and universality. The formation mechanism of SAAs prepared using this technique was elucidated by density functional theory calculations. It was demonstrated that thermal evaporation can be utilized to prepare SAAs with multiple SAs, further highlighting its universal applicability.