Issue 47, 2021

Current trends and perspectives on emerging Fe-derived noble-metal-free oxygen electrocatalysts

Abstract

Oxygen electrochemistry that comprises oxygen evolution and reduction reactions (OER/ORR) is vital for sustainable, clean, and efficient energy generation. However, the high activation barrier due to the multi-electron transfer process makes them sluggish and requires noble metals (e.g. Ir, Ru, or Pt) to overcome the kinetic barrier. This increases the cost of sustainable devices such as metal–air batteries and fuel cells and, in turn, obstructs their wide-scale applications. In this context, it is necessary to explore noble-metal-free efficient oxygen electrocatalysts to produce a surge in the practical applicability of these technologies. Since Fe facilitates these reactions and is widely available, it has emerged as an element of interest in different forms, such as oxides, phosphides, chalcogenides, layered double hydroxides, Fe–N–C, single atoms, and some other hetero-structured composites with carbon-based (graphene, carbon nanotubes, etc.) materials. This review assesses the strategies utilized in the development of Fe-derived materials without involving noble metals in the catalysis under alkaline conditions. It also focuses on the approaches used to transform well-known Fe-derived ORR materials to OER and vice versa or into bifunctional catalysts. Furthermore, we highlight the significant role of modifying various fundamentally important parameters, such as the fabrication methods and their consequent morphological and electronic deviations in establishing promising new Fe-based catalytic materials. This assessment will bring valuable fit to the existing literature and assist in gaining important information to extract practical applications from Fe-derived noble-metal-free electrocatalysts.

Graphical abstract: Current trends and perspectives on emerging Fe-derived noble-metal-free oxygen electrocatalysts

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
23 okt 2021
Accepted
03 nov 2021
First published
05 nov 2021

New J. Chem., 2021,45, 22012-22033

Current trends and perspectives on emerging Fe-derived noble-metal-free oxygen electrocatalysts

Z. Ahmed and V. Bagchi, New J. Chem., 2021, 45, 22012 DOI: 10.1039/D1NJ05062A

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