Having the excellent catalytic performance, single atom catalysts (SACs) arouse extensive research interest. However, the application of SACs is hindered by the lack of versatile and scalable preparation approaches. Here, we show a precursor-atomization strategy to produce SACs, involving the spray of droplets of solutions containing metal precursors onto support surface through ultrasonic atomization and the subsequent calcination. This approach is versatile to successful synthesis of a series of catalysts, including 19 SACs with different metal sites and supports and 3 derivatives of SACs (single atom alloys, double atom catalysts and bi-metallic SACs). Furthermore, it can be scaled up by a homemade production line with productivity over 1 kg day⁻¹, and the well-controlled catalyst uniformity is evidenced by the identical characterization results and catalytic properties in Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling. This strategy lays a foundation for further investigation and may accelerate the trend from basic research to industrial applications of SACs.

Four double atom catalysts (DACs) with controllable interatomic distances were achieved via solventless ball-milling, among which double-atom Ni₂/N–C showed good selectivity and superior catalytic activity to single-atom Ni₁/N–C for r-WGS reactions.

More electron depletion of the Pt center of the Pt ₁ /Co ₃ O ₄ -c surface facilitates overall electron transfer from the B atom to the ammonia borane (AB) molecule, which ensures the highest activity among Pt ₁ /Co ₃ O ₄ -x in the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of AB reaction.