Catalysis is essential
to modern life and has a huge economic impact.
The development of new catalysts critically depends on synthetic methods
that enable the preparation of tailored nanomaterials. Pulsed laser
in liquids synthesis can produce uniform, multicomponent, nonequilibrium
nanomaterials with independently and precisely controlled properties,
such as size, composition, morphology, defect density, and atomistic
structure within the nanoparticle and at its surface. We cover the
fundamentals, unique advantages, challenges, and experimental solutions
of this powerful technique and review the state-of-the-art of laser-made
electrocatalysts for water oxidation, oxygen reduction, hydrogen evolution,
nitrogen reduction, carbon dioxide reduction, and organic oxidations,
followed by laser-made nanomaterials for light-driven catalytic processes
and heterogeneous catalysis of thermochemical processes. We also highlight
laser-synthesized nanomaterials for which proposed catalytic applications
exist. This review provides a practical guide to how the catalysis
community can capitalize on pulsed laser in liquids synthesis to advance
catalyst development, by leveraging the synergies of two fields of
intensive research.