Keywords
Coordination Structure
Adsorption Energetics
Selectivity
Operando Evidence
Durability
Abstract
A central challenge in electrocatalytic active-site design is to compare studies whose mechanisms and validation settings do not share a single denominator. The present review uses cooperative atomically dispersed Fe-N4 and Sn-Nx coordination sites for oxygen reduction and chalcogenide-anion regulation of Ni2Mo6Te8 stability and nitrate-to-ammonia selectivity as focal cases for a boundary-aware synthesis. A structured reading of two target studies and 12 verified companion references is conducted across five lenses: coordination structure, adsorption energetics, selectivity, operando evidence, durability. Emphasis is placed on the provenance of evidence, the comparability of baselines, and the consequences of alternative explanations. The combined literature indicates that methodological gains become actionable only when coordination structure and adsorption energetics are evaluated together and when limits associated with durability are explicit. This shifts the emphasis from isolated scores toward traceable chains of evidence and decision relevance. On this basis, the review proposes an auditable pathway from focal mechanism to application claim, with explicit checkpoints for calibration, external validity, and responsible interpretation.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Brett Mercer, Clayton Benson, Dawson Norton (Author)