I just published in ACS Nano (IF 15.8). In the manuscript, I mentioned Fig. 1 in the 'Introduction', and Fig. 1 was actually in the 'Results and Discussion' section. The paper format came out with Fig. 1 in the Intro, as you can see here:

Article Voltage-Driven All-Solid-State Ionic Control on Co/CoO Antif...

I’d say if you explicitly add a figure in the Introduction, they'd not mind at all, or if you only refer to it in the Intro, they might also place the figure in the Intro, as happened with mine. Perhaps other ACS journals follow the same criteria as well.

Best of luck,

Gabriel Vinicius

Several material science journals with good Impact Factors (I.F.), generally allow for figures in the introduction section of research articles (not review articles). Key journals to consider include Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing (Elsevier) - I.F. = 4.2, Journal of Materials Science (Springer) - I.F. = 3.5, Materials Science and Engineering: B (Elsevier) - I.F. = 3.9, Journal of Materials Chemistry C (RSC) - I.F. = 5.7, and Materials Horizons (RSC) - I.F. = 12.2, among others.

I hope so, this answer might meet the requirement of your question, Mr. Izhar Sagheer.