Issue

Vol. 18 (2026)

Spin Regulation of Fe Single Site Induced by Adjacent Mg Site Achieving Excellent Oxygen Reduction Catalysis

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02143-6
Yuan Shi
Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics and Photon‑TechnologY, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, People’s Republic of China
Ziyi Zhang
Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics and Photon‑TechnologY, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, People’s Republic of China
Lei Bai
Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics and Photon‑TechnologY, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, People’s Republic of China
Dingding Li
Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics and Photon‑TechnologY, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, People’s Republic of China
Jingbo Shi
Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics and Photon‑TechnologY, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, People’s Republic of China
Zongye Yue
Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics and Photon‑TechnologY, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, People’s Republic of China
Tianyu Yuan
Institute for Advanced Study, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, People’s Republic of China
Jinbo Bai
Université Paris-Saclay, CentraleSupélec, ENS Paris-Saclay, CNRS, LMPS-Laboratoire de Mécanique Paris-Saclay, 8‑10 Rue Joliot‑Curie, 91190 Gif‑sur‑Yvette, France
Jintao Bai
Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics and Photon‑TechnologY, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, People’s Republic of China
Kunyue Leng
Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics and Photon‑TechnologY, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, People’s Republic of China
Xiaolin Li
Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing Technology, Shenzhen Polytechnic University, Shenzhen 518055, People’s Republic of China
Xuejing Wang
School of Life Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 1 Dongxiang Road, Xi’an 710069, People’s Republic of China
Yunteng Qu
Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics and Photon‑TechnologY, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Yunteng Qu

yuntengqu@nwu.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 18 (2026), Article Number: 291

Abstract

Metal–nitrogen–carbon catalysts have emerged as promising alternatives to costly platinum group catalysts in fuel cells and metal–air batteries; however, further enhancement of their activity in both alkaline and acidic media is still required. Here, we present a FeMg–N–C dual-atom catalyst that demonstrates excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance, achieving notably high half-wave potentials (E1/2) of 1.004 V in alkaline media and 0.881 V in acidic media. Additionally, the FeMg–N–C catalyst delivers peak power densities of 530.1 mW cm−2 in Zn–air cells and 1.06 W cm−2 in H2–O2 fuel cells. Experimental and theoretical analyses reveal that the enhanced ORR activity arises from the spin state transition of Fe sites from low spin to medium spin, induced by adjacent Mg sites. This medium-spin Fe site exhibits strong adsorption of *O2 and weak adsorption of *OH, effectively facilitating the initial ORR step and the removal of *OH. This work paves a novel pathway to design and construct well-performing electrocatalysts via the spin regulation strategy.


Highlights:
1 The FeMg–N–C dual-atom catalyst demonstrates excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance, achieving notably high half-wave potentials of 1.004 V in alkaline and 0.881 V in acidic media.
2 Adjacent Mg sites induce the spin state transition of Fe from low spin to medium spin, optimizing the adsorption of *O2 and desorption of *OH, thereby accelerating the 4-electron ORR pathway.
3 The catalyst enables outstanding practical performance in energy devices, delivering peak power densities of 530.1 mW cm−2 in Zn–air batteries and 1.06 W cm−2 in H2–O2 fuel cells.

Keywords

Dual-atom catalyst Spin regulation Oxygen reduction Excellent half-wave
Shi, Yuan, Ziyi Zhang, Lei Bai, Dingding Li, Jingbo Shi, Zongye Yue, Tianyu Yuan, Jinbo Bai, Jintao Bai, Kunyue Leng, Xiaolin Li, Xuejing Wang, and Yunteng Qu. 2026. “Spin Regulation of Fe Single Site Induced by Adjacent Mg Site Achieving Excellent Oxygen Reduction Catalysis”. Nano-Micro Letters 18 (March):291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02143-6.
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