Issue 4, 2019

Recent advances in developing high-performance nanostructured electrocatalysts based on 3d transition metal elements

Abstract

Electrocatalysis for clean energy conversion, including water splitting (hydrogen and oxygen evolution) and oxygen reduction, has been considered as a pivotal strategy to alleviate the increasing energy crisis and environmental pollution derived from the overuse of nonrenewable fossil fuels. Since the current electrocatalysts are usually based on high-cost and scarce noble metal elements (Pt, Ru, and Ir), developing low-cost and earth-abundant catalysts is of great practical promise for realizing industry-scale applications. In this regard, electrocatalysts based on 3d transition metal elements (Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni, etc.) have been proposed as a class of prospective materials due to their abundance and high activity. In this work, recent advances in developing high-performance nanostructured electrocatalysts for sustainable clean energy conversion are briefly reviewed, with a particular focus on morphology design, composition tuning, surface engineering and metal coordination symmetry/geometry control. The latest studies indicate that carefully designed nanostructures based on 3d transition metal elements can attain comparable electrocatalytic performance to the commercial noble metal-based counterparts. This review may offer new insights into the rational design of nanostructures with further improved electrocatalytic activity and pathway selectivity to achieve the ultimate goal of realizing renewable electrochemical energy conversion.

Graphical abstract: Recent advances in developing high-performance nanostructured electrocatalysts based on 3d transition metal elements

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
03 Dez 2018
Accepted
14 Feb 2019
First published
14 Feb 2019

Nanoscale Horiz., 2019,4, 789-808

Recent advances in developing high-performance nanostructured electrocatalysts based on 3d transition metal elements

H. Wan, X. Liu, H. Wang, R. Ma and T. Sasaki, Nanoscale Horiz., 2019, 4, 789 DOI: 10.1039/C8NH00461G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements