Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a mainstay of the semiconductor industry since it allows depositing nanometer thin layers of a desired material onto a substrate in a very controlled and uniform manner. Recently, ALD has been adapted to design and synthesize composite catalysts that allow them to enhance multiple chemical reactions. In fabrication of composite catalysts, the selective approaches of ALD are of great importance to exert spatial control of deposition to fabricate three dimensional nanostructures.

In this talk, strategies for selective ALD and enabled nanostructures for catalytic applications will be discussed. The atomically ccomposite nanostructures allows motivations of selective-ALD enable directionally and precisely tailoring of the structural parameters, interfaces, and active sites, that is of great significance for advanced catalysis. Both metal and oxide selectively decorated nanoparticle catalysts will be discussed. With these methods, core shell structures, oxide overcoating structures, facet selective structures are fabricated. The DFT calculations for precursors’ chemisorption and binding energies are carried out to verify the results. These strategies of selective ALD have demonstrated unique advantages to design and fabricate highly active and thermal stable catalysts in atomic scale, and also provided insights to understand the structure–activity relationship.