Single-Atom Catalysts Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- 55.7% of all 757 records sit with just five assignees — the top 10 combined account for 73.1%, so this field is unusually concentrated for a catalysis sub-topic.
- Filing peaked in 2020 at 30 and has flattened since; 2022 sits at 17, and several of the leading assignees show 0 filings and -100% YoY in the latest year.
- C08F and C08L dominate the IPC mix at 67.0% and 34.3% of records respectively, while B01J — the catalysis-specific class — trails at 11.8%, hinting at where the claim language actually concentrates.
What the single-atom catalyst patent record actually shows
Single-atom catalyst claims in this dataset cluster heavily around polymer chemistry classes rather than catalysis classes narrowly defined. C08F (addition polymers) appears in 67.0% of the 757 records in scope, and C08L (polymer compositions) in 34.3% — both well ahead of B01J, the class most directly tied to catalytic processes, at 11.8%. That pattern says the commercial pressure behind these filings is often about polymer product performance, with the catalyst itself as the enabling mechanism rather than the headline claim.
Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the 2025-2026 portion of the trend understates real filing activity. Even accounting for that lag, the shape from 2020 onward — a peak of 30 followed by a decline toward 2022's 17 — points to a field where the core claim space around metal-anchoring and dispersion techniques may already be substantially staked out by the leading assignees.
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Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 757-record dataset: filings by year, and the IPC subclasses those filings carry.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings opened at 19 in 2017, rose to a peak of 30 in 2020, and have since eased back — 2022 sits at 17. The most recent year (2026) is a partial count and should not be read as a drop in activity.
IPC subclass composition
C08F and C08L together cover the large majority of records, while B01J, B32B, C08K, C07C and H01B each describe a narrower slice — a record can carry several classes at once, so these shares sum to well over 100% of the 757 records in scope.
Shares are the percentage of the 757 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Single-Atom Catalysts with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about single-atom catalysts and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records in this dataset
Preparation Method and Application of Non-noble Metal Single Atom Catalyst (US20220042184A1)
Jiangnan University's filing describes a photochemical route to a non-noble metal single-atom catalyst, anchoring metal atoms — nickel among them — onto a light-absorbing carrier under irradiation, with the catalyst dispersed on the surface of that photoactive substance.First disclosed use of a photochemical synthetic route for non-noble metal single-atom catalyst preparation, per the filing's own description.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6225432B1 | Branched polypropylene compositions | 247 |
| 2 | WO2015011135A1 | process | 196 |
| 3 | WO2000037514A1 | Branched semi-crystalline ethylene-propylene compositions | 179 |
| 4 | CN101412809A | 用于合成聚碳酸酯的单活性点催化剂 | 99 |
| 5 | US6232377B1 | Flame retardant composition | 98 |
| 6 | CN104588006A | 一种用于炔烃选择加氢的含钯的合金单原子催化剂 | 79 |
| 7 | US6573350B1 | Branched semi-crystalline high-C3 ethylene-propylene compositions | 75 |
| 8 | US20140031504A1 | Catalyst system | 67 |
| 9 | US6325956B2 | Crosslinking of polymers and foams thereof | 67 |
| 10 | WO2007080365A2 | Supported catalyst system | 66 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older records; treat them as a signal of influence on the field rather than of current commercial relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the data means for filing strategy
Reading the concentration, trend and jurisdiction figures together points to a field where the core mechanism claims are largely occupied and the open ground sits in application-specific and process-scale-up claims.
Five assignees hold over half the field
The top 5 combined account for 55.7% of all 757 records in scope, and the top 10 extend that to 73.1%. For a new entrant, that means the foundational metal-anchoring and dispersion claims are likely already covered by a small set of established filers, and freedom-to-operate work should start there.
Filing activity has flattened since 2020
After rising from 19 filings in 2017 to a peak of 30 in 2020, activity eased to 17 by 2022. Several of the leading assignees show zero filings in the latest year with -100% YoY, which is consistent with either a maturing claim landscape or a pause pending the next wave of applications.
Claims lean toward polymer product classes, not catalysis classes
C08F and C08L together dominate the IPC composition, while B01J — the class most specific to catalytic processes — sits at 11.8%. That split suggests much of the patented value is captured downstream, in the polymer compositions and processing steps that use the catalyst, rather than in the catalyst mechanism itself.
Filing activity centres on the US, EPO and PCT route
The United States (192), Europe via EPO (153) and the WIPO/PCT route (93) are the leading receiving offices, ahead of India (57), Canada (56) and Austria (35). That spread points to a field where applicants are pursuing broad multi-jurisdiction coverage rather than concentrating in a single market.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to single-atom catalysts, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is still open
The ranked leaders account for most of the volume, but the recent-year momentum figures suggest even the top filers have slowed. That combination — high historical concentration, low current activity — is what defines the remaining white space.
A single leader sits well ahead of fifth place
The top-ranked assignee holds 114 records against 50 at fifth place and 17 at tenth — a steep drop-off that marks this as a leader-plus-long-tail structure rather than an evenly split field.
Co-assignee pairs cluster around a few recurring collaborations
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest pair sharing 12 records. That is a small number of formal collaborations relative to the size of the field, suggesting most of the leading filers build their portfolios independently.
Several of the biggest historical filers show no recent activity
Multiple assignees among the historical leaders recorded zero filings in the latest year with -100% YoY. Combined with the field-wide flattening after the 2020 peak, this points to a pause among incumbents rather than continued aggressive claim-staking.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Borealis AG | 0 | -100% |
| Nova Chemicals (International) S.A. | 0 | — |
| ExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc. | 0 | — |
| Total Petrochemicals Research Feluy | 0 | — |
| Borealis Technology Oy | 0 | — |
| Dow Global Technologies LLC | 0 | — |
| Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology LLC | 0 | — |
| Univation Technologies LLC | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to where the field is dense and where it has gone quiet — the next step is testing a specific claim or entity against that picture.
Check freedom-to-operate against the top filers
With 73.1% of records held by the top 10 assignees, a targeted FTO review of that group's claim scope is the fastest way to confirm whether a proposed anchoring or dispersion method is genuinely open.
Run an FTO check in EurekaTrack whether the 2020-2022 slowdown continues
The gap between the 2020 peak and 2022's lower count, combined with several top assignees showing zero recent filings, is worth monitoring for a rebound or a genuine pullback.
Set up trend monitoring in EurekaFrequently asked questions
The dataset's ranked leader holds 114 of the 757 records in scope, with a steep drop to 50 at fifth place and 17 at tenth. This leader-plus-long-tail shape means one assignee has a materially larger portfolio than everyone else, while dozens of other entities hold only a handful of filings each. Anyone assessing competitive position should look at both the absolute leader and the concentration among the top 10, which together account for 73.1% of all records.
Filings rose from 19 in 2017 to a peak of 30 in 2020, then eased to 17 by 2022, and several of the historically largest filers show zero filings and -100% year-over-year in the most recent year. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the very latest year in any dataset is always undercounted, so the true 2025-2026 picture may be somewhat higher than shown. Even allowing for that lag, the multi-year trend after 2020 reads as flat to declining rather than accelerating.
In this dataset, C08F (addition polymers) appears in 67.0% of the 757 records and C08L (polymer compositions) in 34.3%, both ahead of B01J (chemical and physical processes, including catalysis specifically) at 11.8%. Other relevant classes include C08J (polymer processing), B32B (layered products), C08K (polymer additives), C07C (acyclic/carbocyclic compounds) and H01B (conductors and insulators). Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100% and should not be read as a strict breakdown of the field.
The IPC composition shows heavy concentration in polymer-related classes (C08F, C08L) relative to the catalysis-specific class B01J, which suggests less claim density in process-level and application-specific catalyst work compared with polymer-composition claims. Areas like photochemical metal-anchoring routes, non-noble metal synthesis methods, and sintering-resistant support architectures appear less saturated based on the representative filings and citation patterns available. A prospective filer should still run a full freedom-to-operate search against the top assignees before assuming any of these branches is genuinely open.
US20220042184A1, filed by Jiangnan University, discloses a photochemical method for preparing a non-noble metal single-atom catalyst by anchoring metal atoms — nickel is named as an example — onto a light-absorbing carrier under irradiation. The filing describes this as the first use of a photochemical synthetic route for non-noble metal single-atom catalyst preparation. Whether it blocks a specific new project depends on the exact claim language around the anchoring mechanism and carrier material, which requires a claim-by-claim review rather than a reading of the abstract alone.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.