Metal single-atom catalysts derived from silicon-based materials for advanced oxidation applications

Enhancing the corrosion resistance of carriers within Fenton-like systems and inhibiting the migration and aggregation of single atoms in reaction environments are essential for maintaining both high activity and stability at catalytic sites, thus meeting fundamental requirements for practical application. The Fenton-like process of activating various strong oxidants by silicon-based single atom catalysts (SACs) prepared based on silicon-based materials (mesoporous silica, silicon-based minerals, and organosilicon materials) has unique advantages such as structural stability (especially important under strong oxidation conditions) and environmental protection. In this paper, the preparation strategies for the silicon-based SACs were assessed first, and the structural characteristics of various silicon-based SACs are systematically discussed, their application process and mechanism in Fenton-like process to achieve water purification are investigated, and the progress of Fenton-like process in density functional theory (DFT) of silicon-based derived single atom catalysts is summarized. In this paper, the preparation strategies and applications of silicon-based derived SACs are analyzed in depth, and their oxidation activities and pathways to different pollutants in water are reviewed. In addition, this paper also summarizes the device design and application of silicon-based derived SACs, and prospects the future development of silicon-based SACs in Fenton-like applications.