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Large-scale deployment of single-atom catalysts via cross-scale confinement in ceramic membranes for advanced water treatment

Nature Water (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) demonstrate exceptional catalytic activity, yet their practical deployment in water treatment remains hindered by instability, scalability barriers and incompatibility with existing infrastructure. Here we present a hierarchical cross-scale assembly of manganese SACs confined within the nanopores of a ZrO2 ceramic membrane (Mn-SA@CM), enabling scalable deployment for advanced water treatment. Validated in a pilot-scale device treating 1,200 litres of real hospital wastewater, Mn-SA@CM achieves an exceptionally high decontamination rate (9.8 × 104 min−1) and ultrahigh permeability (150 l m−2 h−1 bar−1), overcoming the permeability–reactivity trade-off. This hierarchical design integrates metal–organic framework-derived micropores to stabilize atomic sites, membrane nanopores to drive advection-enhanced mass transfer and macroporous ceramic supports to ensure mechanical durability. Nanoconfinement inside the membrane pores concentrates reactants near catalytic sites, boosting degradation kinetics by 105-fold compared with bulk systems. The membrane also exhibits self-cleaning functionality, sustaining >97% removal of emerging contaminants over 168 h with negligible flux decline or metal leaching. By bridging atomic-scale catalysis with macroscale engineering via cross-scale assembly, this work establishes a viable, infrastructure-compatible platform for deploying SACs in real-world environmental remediation and beyond.

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Fig. 1: Preparation and microstructure characterization of Mn-SA@CM.
Fig. 2: Structural characterization of Mn-SA catalysts.
Fig. 3: Catalytic performance of Mn-SA@CM.
Fig. 4: Reactive species and activation mechanisms of high-performance Mn-SA@CM/PMS system for water decontamination.
Fig. 5: Pilot-scale application of Mn-SA@CM/PMS system.

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The data for this study are available within the Article and its Supplementary Information.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 52460003 to Y.Y., 22236003 to B.P. and 22376093 to W.F.), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (grant no. BK20230797 to W.F.), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (grant no. 20242BAB25319 to Y.Y.), Key R&D Program of Jiangxi Province (grant no. 20252BCE310043 to Y.Y.) and State Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Green Resource Recycling Foundation (grant no. PCRRF25044 to Y.Y.).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Yulong Yang, Hao Li, Wanyi Fu.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jingdezhen Ceramic University, Jingdezhen, China

    Yulong Yang, Hao Li, Zhiwen Hu, Ruiqiang Yang, Qibing Chang, Qikun Wang & Yongqing Wang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Green Resource Recycling, School of Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Yulong Yang, Wanyi Fu, Hui Xu & Bingcai Pan

  3. Institute of Environment and Ecology, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, China

    Xixi Chen

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Contributions

Y.Y., W.F. and B.P. conceived the idea and designed the experiments. Y.Y. and H.L. carried out the material synthesis and performance tests. Y.Y., H.L., Z.H., R.Y., H.X., Q.W., Y.W. and X.C. carried out the characterization and performed the data analysis. Q.C. and W.F. supervised the project. Y.Y. and H.L. drafted the manuscript. W.F., B.P. and Q.C. revised the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Wanyi Fu, Qibing Chang or Bingcai Pan.

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Supplementary Texts 1–5, Figs. 1–35 and Tables 1–14.

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Yang, Y., Li, H., Fu, W. et al. Large-scale deployment of single-atom catalysts via cross-scale confinement in ceramic membranes for advanced water treatment. Nat Water (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-025-00512-w

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