Issue 11, 2023

Advances in Cu nanocluster catalyst design: recent progress and promising applications

Abstract

The quest for cleaner pathways to the production of fuels and chemicals from non-fossil feedstock, efficient transformation of raw materials to value-added chemicals under mild conditions, and control over the activity and selectivity of chemical processes are driving the state-of-the-art approaches to the construction and precise chemical modification of sustainable nanocatalysts. As a burgeoning category of atomically precise noble metal nanoclusters, copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) benefitting from their exclusive structural architecture, ingenious designability of active sites and high surface-to-volume ratio qualify as potential rationally-designed catalysts. In this Minireview, we present a detailed coverage of the optimal design strategies and controlled synthesis of Cu NC catalysts with a focus on tuning of active sites at the atomic level, the implications of cluster size, shape and structure, the ligands and heteroatom doping on catalytic activity, and reaction scope ranging from chemical catalysis to emerging photocatalysis and electrocatalysis.

Graphical abstract: Advances in Cu nanocluster catalyst design: recent progress and promising applications

Article information

Article type
Minireview
Submitted
04 Aug. 2023
Accepted
21 Sept. 2023
First published
26 Sept. 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Nanoscale Horiz., 2023,8, 1509-1522

Advances in Cu nanocluster catalyst design: recent progress and promising applications

S. Biswas, S. Das and Y. Negishi, Nanoscale Horiz., 2023, 8, 1509 DOI: 10.1039/D3NH00336A

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