Developing novel
and efficient catalysts is always an important
theme for heterogeneous catalysis from fundamental and applied research
points of view. In the past, carbon materials were used as supports
for numerous heterogeneous catalysts because of their fascinating
properties including high surface areas, tunable porosity, and functionality.
Recently, the newly emerging N-doped carbon-supported metal catalysts
have arguably experienced great progress and brought the most attention
over the last decades in view of the fact that nitrogen doping can
tailor the properties of carbon for various applications of interest.
Compared with pristine carbon-supported metal catalysts, these catalysts
normally show superior catalytic performance in many heterogeneous
catalytic reactions because of the introduced various metal–support
interactions from N doping. In this Perspective, we focus on the fabrication
methods for N-doped carbon-supported metal catalysts and the catalytic
application of these fascinating catalysts in several industrially
relevant reactions, including hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, oxidation,
and coupling. Notably, we try to elucidate the structure–activity
correlations obtained from theoretical calculation, extensive characterization,
and observed catalytic performances, thereby providing guidance for
the rational design of advanced catalysts for heterogeneous catalysis.