Interfacial Electron Research Articles

Heteroatom‐ and Bonded Z‐Scheme Channels‐Modulated Ultrafast Carrier Dynamics and Exciton Dissociation in Covalent Triazine Frameworks for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

AbstractCovalent triazine frameworks (CTF) offer a tunable platform for photocatalytic H2 generation due to their diverse structures, low costs, and precisely tunable electronic structures. However, high exciton binding energy and short lifetimes of photogenerated carriers restrict their application in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Herein, a novel phosphorus‐incorporated CTF is introduced to construct a chemically bonded PCTF/WO3 (PCTFW) heterostructure with a precise interface electron transfer channel. The phosphorus incorporation is found to dominantly reduce the exciton binding energy and promote the dissociation of singlet and triplet excitons into free charge carriers due to the regulation of electronic structures. High‐quality interfacial WN bonds improve the interfacial transfer of photogenerated electrons, thus prolonging the lifetime of photogenerated electrons. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy characterizations and DFT calculations further confirm both phosphorus incorporation and Z‐scheme heterojunctions can synergistically boost the in‐built electric field and accelerate the migration and separation of photogenerated electrons. The optimized photocatalytic H2‐evolution rate of resultant PCTFW is 134.84 µmol h−1 (67.42 mmol h−1g−1), with an apparent quantum efficiency of 37.63% at 420 nm, surpassing many reported CTF‐based photocatalysts so far. This work highlights the significance of atom‐level interfacial exciton dissociation, and charge transfer and separation in improving photocatalysis.

Tunable Schottky barrier in graphene/XAg4Y (X, Y = S, Se, Te) heterostructures

Two-dimensional (2D) metal-semiconductor heterostructures have attracted extensive interest in future integrated electronics and energy-related applications. Here, the modulated electronic properties and interface contact of G/XAg4Y (X, Y = S, Se, and Te) heterostructures are investigated via first-principles methods. G/XAg4Y with G/SAg4Y and G/SeAg4Y are n-type Schottky contacts whose Φn range from 1.07 to 1.22 eV, while those with G/TeAg4Y are p-type Schottky contacts whose Φp range from 1.17 to 1.20 eV. Because of interfacial charge transfer, the n-type Schottky contacts of G/XAg4Y with G/SAg4Y and G/SeAg4Y evolve to p-type Schottky contacts by applying positive external electric fields or reducing the interlayer distances. Oppositely, the p-type Schottky contacts of the G/XAg4Y with the G/TeAg4Y change to n-type Schottky contacts by applying a negative external electric field or increasing the interlayer distances. These predicted results show that G/XAg4Y heterostructures possess interlayer-distance and electric-field dependent Schottky barrier height, which possesses potential in future integrated electronics and energy-related applications.

Inclusion of a Supercapacitor Energy Storage System in DFIG and Full-Converter PMSG Wind Turbines for Inertia Emulation

The energy transition towards renewables must be accelerated to achieve climate targets. To do so, renewable power plants, such as wind power plants (WPPs) must replace conventional power plants (CPPs). Transmission System Operators require this replacement to be made without weakening the frequency response of power systems, so it must be ensured that WPPs match the response of CPPs to grid frequency variations. CPPs consist of grid-tied synchronous generators that inherently react to frequency variations by modifying their stored kinetic energy and their output power, thereby contributing to grid stability. Such response is known as inertial response. By contrast, wind turbines (WTs) are mostly based on either doubly-fed induction generators (DFIG) or permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG). Their power electronics interface decouples the electromechanical behavior of the generator from the power grid, leading to a negligible inertial response. Therefore, in order to replace CPPs with WPPs, WTs must be able to react to frequency variations by changing their output power, i.e., emulating an inertial response. Currently implemented inertia emulation strategies in WTs rely on pitch control and stored kinetic energy variation. This paper proposes an alternative strategy, using the energy stored in a supercapacitor directly connected to the back-to-back converter DC link to emulate inertia. Its performance is validated by means of simulation for both DFIG and PMSG. Compared to state-of-the-art techniques, it allows a more accurate emulation of grid-tied synchronous generators, favoring the replacement of these generators by WTs.

Cu/CdCO3 catalysts for efficient electrochemical CO2 reduction over the wide potential window

High efficiency and low-cost catalyst-driven electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to CO production are of great significance for energy storage and development. The severe competitive hydrogen evolution reaction occurs at large negative potential window limits the achievement of the target product from CO2 at high efficiency. Here, we successfully prepared Cux/CdCO3 composite catalyst rich in interfaces, in which achieved high CO Faraday efficiency exceeded 90% in a wide potential window of 700 mV and highest value up to 97.9% at −0.90 V vs. RHE. The excellent performance can be ascribed to the positive contribution of Cux/CdCO3, which maintains a suitable high local pH value during electrochemical reduction, thus inhibiting the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction. Moreover, the compact structure between Cu and CdCO3 ensures fast electron transfer both inside catalysts and interface, thus speeding up the reaction kinetics of CO2 to CO conversion. Theoretically calculations further prove that the combination of Cu and CdCO3 provides the well-defined electronic structure for intermediates adsorption, significantly reducing the reaction barrier for the formation of CO. This work provides new insights into the design of efficient electrochemical CO2 reduction catalysts for inhibiting hydrogen evolution by adjusting the local pH effect.

Recent Progress on Poly(3,4‐Ethylenedioxythiophene):Poly(Styrenesulfonate) Bioelectrodes

Sensing bioelectrical signals is of great significance to understand human disease. Reliable bioelectronic interface is the guarantee of high‐quality bioelectrical signals. The unique electrochemical property and the mixed ionic and electrical conductivity of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) make it an ideal material for the skin/tissue–electronic interface. However, pristine PEDOT:PSS‐based devices cannot meet the requirements for practical use. Toward this end, herein, the development of PEDOT:PSS‐based electrodes and their most recent advances in sensing bioelectrical signals are summarized. First, the generation mechanism of bioelectrical signals is introduced in detail. Then, according to the characteristics of bioelectrical signals, the requirements of bioelectrodes are discussed. Next, representative achievements for improving conductivity, stretchability, and stability of PEDOT:PSS are introduced. Bioelectrical signals such as electromyogram (EMG), electrocardiogram (ECG), electrooculogram (EOG), and electroencephalogram (EEG) are successfully recorded by these PEDOT:PSS‐based electrodes. Finally, a brief summary is provided, and the opportunities and challenges are also discussed.

Exploring Zr-based Metal-Organic Frameworks as Smart Electrochromic Sensors by Coordination-Driven Surface Engineering.

As emerging stimuli-responsive materials, electrochromic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are still not utilized in sensing applications due to difficulties in water stability, facile synthesis and functionalization, and efficient translation of specific recognition events. Here, we firstly find that a Zr-based MOF furnished with postsynthetically created viologen-like electron-deficient moiety was electrochromic active. With a coordination-driven surface engineering strategy where phosphate-containing biomolecules are tethered to Zr nodes of the MOF, fine tuning the interface electron transfer was readily achieved, thus benefitting for constructing smart electrochromic sensors through the combination of the sensitivity of electrochemistry with the visuality of colorimetry. Particularly, MOF-coated conductive films enabled label-free detection of phosphoproteins, and aptamer-functionalized ones responded specifically to the target. In two cases distinct color changes allow for visual quantification. This study represents the first example of MOF-based electrochromic sensors developed by an efficient strategy, indicating the generality to electrochromic counterparts for various sensing applications.

Assessing the cost and utilization of SMS printers by primary health care facilities: lessons learned from South Africa.

Historically, paper-based laboratory reports were delivered by couriers to health facilities resulting in post-analytical delays. As a result, short message service (SMS) printers were deployed to fill this gap, with the global data service platform (GDSP) being primarily used to facilitate deployment. In addition, these printers generate binary and quantitative information that can be used to assess utilization. The objective of this study was to determine the costs and utilization of the SMS printer program in South Africa. A cost analysis for 2020 was undertaken. We determined annual equivalent costs (AEC) for staffing, printers, fixed costs related to the national coordinator, consumables, travel costs, database support/hosting/dashboard development, printer repairs, and results transmission. The main outcome of interest was the cost per SMS printer result delivered. Data were extracted to assess utilization as follows: i) months active (based on internet protocol data); ii) signal; iii) battery strength. There were 4,450,116 results delivered to printers that were situated at 2232 primary health care facilities. An AEC of $687,727 was reported, with a cost per result delivered of $0.1618. The SMS printers contributed 73.52% to the total AEC. Overall, 90% of the printers were GDSP based, of which only 69.5% were determined to be active. The majority of active printers reported a signal strength of ≥60% and a battery strength of ≥6 volts. Although the SMS printer program has the potential to reduce post-analytical delays, pathology services should migrate to an end-to-end electronic interface to improve patient care.

Meta-mechanotronics for self-powered computation

There is an unceasing quest to create novel forms of intelligent active matter that exhibits sensing, energy harvesting, actuating, computing, and communication functionalities. Realizing such capabilities can provide new road maps to autonomous and electronic materials with numerous applications in robotics, human–machine interfacing, micro/nano-electromechanical systems, and flexible electronics. Here, we introduce “mechanical metamaterial electronics (meta-mechanotronics)” as a platform for designing intelligent matter that can sense external stimuli, self-power and process the information to create an integrated closed-loop control system. We achieve these advanced functionalities by fusing mechanical metamaterials, digital electronics and triboelectric nano energy harvesting technologies. Meta-mechanotronic systems use only their constituent components and integrated nanogenerator mechanisms to perform self-powered mechanical–electrical-logic and information storage operations. Thus, they establish a direct interaction mechanism between the external environment and electronics, which is a radically different approach from conventional electrically-controlled units. We demonstrate digital unit cells as building blocks for meta-mechanotronics to perform various self-powered computation functionalities. Analytical models, numerical simulations and experimental studies are performed to design a suite of electronic mechanical metamaterials capable of synthesizing discrete mechanical configurations, performing binary/ternary computations, and realizing digital logic gates, i.e., AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOR, and XNOR. We demonstrate the capability of the framework by creating self-powered mechanically-responsive data storage devices that can store various ASCII codes. Further discussion is provided on how meta-mechanotronics and the associated circuitry can lead to developing future mechanical metamaterial computers, complementing traditional electronics with electronics made of mechanical metamaterials.

Oxygen vacancies-enriched Fe-Cu bimetallic minerals-based magnetic biochar activated peroxydisulfate for durable sulfonamides degradation: pH-dependence adsorption and singlet oxygen evolution mechanism

The construction of oxygen vacancies (Vo) is a promising strategy for designing an efficient catalyst toward peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation. However, the unstable interface electron transfer and deactivation of Vo have been the bottleneck, and Vo-mediated PDS activation mechanisms remain vaguely interpreted. Herein, we innovatively synthesized a low-cost and durable Fe-Cu bimetallic mineral-based magnetic biochar with abundant Vo (Fe-CuFe2O4@BC). Fe-CuFe2O4@BC exhibited 6.64, 22.91, and 79.22-fold PDS activation rates for sulfamethazine (SMT) degradation (100%) and mineralization (91.58%) compared with Fe@BC, Cu@BC, and pristine BC, respectively. The outstanding performance of the Fe-CuFe2O4@BC/PDS system was ascribed to the Vo-induced sustainable electron transfer and singlet oxygen (1O2) generation, determined by chemical probes and kinetics study. pH-dependence adsorption of SMT dominated by the strengthened H-bonding and π–π EDA interaction was the key rate-limited step to PDS activation. Based on the surface investigation, electronic measurement, and Density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we proposed new insights into the electron-rich Vo and electron-deficient Cu co-induced PDS activation mechanism. Different from conventional perspectives, Vo preferentially activated PDS to generate 1O2, subsequently delocalizing and accumulating residual electrons from the Cu site. Simultaneously, metastable copper intermediates activated PDS through thermodynamically feasible reactions, promoting nano-confinement Vo-triggered 1O2 pathway. This study provides a new perspective for synthesizing Vo-rich catalysts and essentially deepens insights into nonradical mechanisms of refractory organics.

Design of a Secure Automated Driving Systems Test Data Interface

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Vehicles equipped with Level 4 and 5 autonomy will need to be tested according to regulatory standards (or future revisions thereof) that vehicles with lower levels of autonomy are currently subject to. Today, dynamic Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) tests are performed with human drivers and driving robots controlling the test vehicle’s steering wheel, throttle pedal, and brake pedal. However, many Level 4 and 5 vehicles will lack these traditional driver controls, so it will be impossible to control these vehicles using human drivers or traditional driving robots. Therefore, there is a need for an electronic interface that will allow engineers to send dynamic steering, speed, and brake commands to a vehicle. This paper describes the design and implementation of a market-ready Automated Driving Systems (ADS) Test Data Interface (TDI), a secure electronic control interface which aims to solve the challenges outlined above. The interface consists of a communication port integrated into automobiles which lack traditional manual controls. Via this interface dynamic test scenarios can be executed by plugging in a Vehicle Control Unit (VCU), which is an element of the TDI hardware/firmware intended to be available only to authorized users. Physically, the VCU can interface with the On-board Diagnostics (OBD) OBD-II connector that is present on essentially all modern automobiles. This paper also describes a demonstration of the complete VCU with the secure TDI using a vehicle equipped with a Dataspeed drive-by-wire kit, with its steering, throttle, and brake control systems mimicking the behavior of an autonomous subject vehicle.</div></div>

Friction force excitation effect on the sliding-mode triboelectric nanogenerator

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a promising energy harvesting technology. Clarifying the excitation effect of friction force on the sliding-mode TENG is important. In this work, three kinds of sliding-mode TENGs were fabricated and the short-circuit output current（Isc）was measured. The results show that the Isc of sliding-mode TENG under constant friction force improved with the increase of friction force, and a cyclic friction force dramatically excited the Isc. Moreover, it demonstrated that after a cyclic friction force excitation process, a small friction force was beneficial for electrical performance. The mechanism was discussed that the large friction force would result in the local friction heat temperature that has a great impact on friction interface electrons transfer and redistribution, therefore, a proper friction force is vitally important for improving the output performance rather than only increasing the friction force. These findings shed light on further understanding of the triboelectric behavior at the sliding friction interface.

Synergism of electronic structure regulation and interface engineering for boosting hydrogen evolution reaction on S-Scheme FeS2/S-ZnSnO3 heterostructure

The customization of the photocatalyst's composition and structure to achieve enhanced hydrogen (H2) evolution performance is still a major challenge. Herein, FeS2/S-ZnSnO3 (FeS2@S-ZSO) heterostructure was constructed for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity. The band structure of ZnSnO3 was regulated by sulfur doping (S-ZSO), followed by coupling with FeS2 nanoparticles to form a composite enabling improved optical absorption range and efficient spatial separation/transfer of photogenerated carriers. The HER performance of the optimal heterostructure (8.7%FeS2@S15%-ZSO) achieved 2225 μmol g-1 h-1, which was 14.4, 5 and 12.6 times greater than ZSO, S15%-ZSO and FeS2, respectively. DFT-based calculations further validated that S doping regulates the electronic structure of S-ZSO, while the coupling of FeS2 constructs a S-Scheme heterostructure, which accelerates the carrier separation and transport dynamics resulting in the improvement of the HER performance. This study presents a novel approach to improve the photocatalytic HER performance of wide bandgap semiconductors through electronic structural regulation and interface engineering approaches.

Assessing the Immunization Information System and electronic health record interface accuracy for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Our objective is to assess the accuracy of the COVID-19 vaccination status within the electronic health record (EHR) for a panel of patients in a primary care practice when manual queries of the state immunization databases are required to access outside immunization records. This study evaluated COVID-19 vaccination status of adult primary care patients within a university-based health system EHR by manually querying the Kansas and Missouri Immunization Information Systems. A manual query of the local Immunization Information Systems for 4114 adult patients with "unknown" vaccination status showed 44% of the patients were previously vaccinated. Attempts to assess the comprehensiveness of the Immunization Information Systems were hampered by incomplete documentation in the chart and poor response to patient outreach. When the interface between the patient chart and the local Immunization Information System depends on a manual query for the transfer of data, the COVID-19 vaccination status for a panel of patients is often inaccurate.

Insight into over Repair of Hot Carrier Degradation by GIDL Current in Si p-FinFETs Using Ultra-Fast Measurement Technique

In this article, an experimental study on the gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) current repairing worst hot carrier degradation (HCD) in Si p-FinFETs is investigated with the aid of an ultra-fast measurement (UFM) technique (~30 μs). It is found that increasing GIDL bias from 3 V to 4 V achieves a 114.7% VT recovery ratio from HCD. This over-repair phenomenon of HCD by UFM GIDL is deeply discussed through oxide trap behaviors. When the applied gate-to-drain GIDL bias reaches 4 V, a significant electron trapping and interface trap generation of the fresh device with GIDL repair is observed, which greatly contributes to the approximate 114.7% over-repair VT ratio of the device under worst HCD stress (-2.0 V, 200 s). Based on the TCAD simulation results, the increase in the vertical electric field on the surface of the channel oxide layer is the direct cause of an extraordinary electron trapping effect accompanied by the over-repair phenomenon. Under a high positive electric field, a part of channel electrons is captured by oxide traps in the gate dielectric, leading to further VT recovery. Through the discharge-based multi-pulse (DMP) technique, the energy distribution of oxide traps after GIDL recovery is obtained. It is found that over-repair results in a 34% increment in oxide traps around the conduction energy band (Ec) of silicon, which corresponds to a higher stabilized VT shift under multi-cycle HCD-GIDL tests. The results provide a trap-based understanding of the transistor repairing technique, which could provide guidance for the reliable long-term operation of ICs.

Unveiling the effect of carbon dots on the TiO2-involved electron transport in perovskite solar cells

Hydrothermal-synthesized TiO2 was verified to effectively replace the commercial dyesol-TiO2 as the electron transport layer for promising perovskite devices. Still, the electron transport ability of this TiO2 is restricted by the surface defects. Herein, orange carbon dots prepared from p-phenylenediamine were employed as modifiers to regulate the TiO2-involved electron transport in perovskite solar cells. The results show that an appropriate amount of CDs can effectively reduce interface electron recombination, TiO2-CDs layers can improve the lattice growth of subsequent perovskite and result in efficient electron extraction from perovskite to TiO2. More importantly, the electron mobility of TiO2 increases from 3.00 × 10−5 to 4.13 × 10−5 cm2·V−1·s−1 due to the addition of CDs. In terms of photovoltaic performance, the photoelectric conversion efficiency reached 21.14% when TiO2-CDs were used as the mesoporous electron transfer layer, which is higher than that of TiO2-based PSCs (17.29%) under the same conditions. Meanwhile, the TiO2-CDs-based PSCs display negligible hysteresis, better stability and repeatability.

Development of Highly Efficient Energy Harvester Based on Magnetic Field Emanating From a Household Power Line and Its Autonomous Interface Electronics

A magnetic energy harvester and its interface electronics are developed to operate a surface acoustic wave (SAW) oscillator sensor that requires at least 5–6 V dc (50–100 mW) to drive and transmit the measured sensor signals to the reader system wirelessly via antennas. The developed energy harvester system comprises a magnetic energy harvester with a coil wound around a magnetic core, an energy storage interface, and a power management interface. From a 220-V, 3-A household ac power line, a 12-V dc is harvested in the storage capacitor via a 5-min energy scavenging process to activate the SAW oscillator sensor. After 2 min of operation using the sensor system, the power management interface is completely shut down to recharge the storage capacitor and then restarted after sufficient charges are accumulated in the storage capacitor to reoperate the SAW oscillator sensor. This autonomous sequence is continuously repeated. The entire interface electronics is developed on a single printed circuit board (PCB) to reduce the energy loss by the board and to facilitate installation in the desired applications. A simulation is performed in COMSOL to determine the optimal energy harvester parameters and to predict the magnetic flux density that forms the induced current around the ferrite magnetic core based on the magnetic core shape. Experimental results show that the developed energy harvester system can harvest sufficient energy from the household power line in a short period to operate the complex RF SAW sensor and the sensor interface electronics. Furthermore, it can be used to operate the SAW oscillator sensor for the time required to obtain valid information to be transmitted wirelessly to the reader system.

Adaptive Dynamic Voltage Support Scheme for Fault Ride-Through Operation of a Microgrid

This paper proposes a control strategy for enabling voltage fault ride-through (VFRT) operation with adaptive dynamic voltage support (DVS) scheme using the energy storage in a microgrid. Firstly, the condition for maximum DVS from the microgrid is presented and its dependency on the parameters of the equivalent network seen by the microgrid is elucidated. Considering the impediments associated with the real-time parameter estimation during the short-term voltage disturbances, reference current signals based on the extreme voltage tracking algorithm are proposed in this paper to achieve an adaptive DVS irrespective of the varying system conditions. Secondly, a control strategy is proposed to enable the energy storage-based VFRT operation of a microgrid. Thirdly, a unique methodology of sizing the energy storage for VFRT operation is presented considering the grid code requirements, equivalent network characteristics, and the maximum current rating of the power electronic interface with the grid. The proposed control strategy is validated through real-time digital simulation case studies for low-voltage, high-voltage, and multiple-fault scenarios. The scalability of the proposed approach is illustrated using the CIGRE distribution test network.

Charge Regulation on Hybrid Nanosheet Stereoassembly via Interfacial PO Coupling Enables Efficient Overall Water Splitting

AbstractPrecise regulation on interfacial electronic coupling is essential to achieve efficient catalysts with tailored electrocatalytic behaviors but remains challenging. Herein, a straightforward topochemical strategy is presented to realize Co‐based heterostructured nanofiber stereoassembled with PO coupled nanosheet (CoHF/PO). By constructing well‐defined metal oxide/phosphide interface, prominent electron redistribution can be established via interfacial PO coupling, which is strongly correlated with the catalytic activities. Density functional theory calculations indicate that the rational interface engineering renders accelerated charge transfer and more importantly, optimized surface adsorption/desorption behaviors, contributing to boosted kinetics for both hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction. Particularly, CoHF/PO featuring promoted intrinsic activity and accessible active sites exhibits intriguing activity and stability at higher current densities in alkaline media, surpassing commercial Pt/C and Ir/C. This study is expected to demonstrate noteworthy promise of covalent coupling toward modulated electronic environment and interface chemistry for electrocatalytic applications and beyond.

DBD plasma assisted synthesis of MO@Fe/Ce-MOFs with rich oxygen defects as efficient photocatalysts for nitrogen fixation

A series of metal oxide/ metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) composites (MO@Fe/Ce-MOFs) were synthesized by partial thermal decomposition of Fe/Ce-MOFs which were synthesized with dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma. The heterojunction interface between MOFs and metal oxides can effectively promote the electron interface transfer. When Fe was introduced, the energy band of the catalysts became narrower, and the increase of oxygen defects concentration slowed down the recombination rate of photogenerated electrons and holes, which greatly improved the photocatalytic performance. MO@Fe/Ce-MOFs exhibited more efficient visible light photocatalytic performance than that of Fe/Ce-MOFs. MO@Fe/Ce-MOFs-b (the molar ratio of Fe to Ce is 1:3) formed an abundant oxygen defect that facilitated the photocatalytic nitrogen fixation reaction. For MO@Fe/Ce-MOFs-b, the NH4+ generation rate reached 299 μmol·L−1·h−1 after 2 h photoreaction under visible light with N2 and deionized water as solvent. Also, MO@Fe/Ce-MOFs-b showed high cyclic stability. After three repeated cycles, the NH4+ generation rate maintained about 95%. This work provided a new method for the preparation of MO@MOFs and emphasized the importance of oxygen defects in nitrogen fixation.

MOF-Derived Ru1Zr1/Co Dual-Atomic-Site Catalyst with Promoted Performance for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis.

Cobalt-based catalysts have been widely used for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) in industry; however, achieving rational catalyst design at the atomic level and thereby a higher activity and more long-chain-hydrocarbon products simultaneously remain an attractive and difficult challenge. The dual-atomic-site catalysts with unique electronic and geometric interface interactions offer a great opportunity for exploiting advanced FTS catalysts with improved performance. Herein, we designed a Ru1Zr1/Co catalyst with Ru and Zr dual atomic sites on the Co nanoparticle (NP) surface through a metal-organic-framework-mediated synthesis strategy which presents greatly enhanced FTS activity (high turnover frequency of 3.8 × 10-2 s-1 at 200 °C) and C5+ selectivity (80.7%). Control experiments presented a synergic effect between Ru and Zr single-atom site on Co NPs. Further density functional theory calculations of the chain growth process from C1 to C5 revealed that the designed Ru/Zr dual sites remarkably lower the rate-limiting barriers due to the significantly weakened C-O bond and promote the chain growth processes, resulting in the greatly boosted FTS performance. Therefore, our work demonstrates the effectiveness of dual-atomic-site design in promoting the FTS performance and provides new opportunities for developing efficient industrial catalysts.