Recent Advances in Nanoparticles Confined in Two‐Dimensional Materials as High‐Performance Electrocatalysts for Energy‐Conversion Technologies

Abstract

Recently, the fast‐growing advanced electrochemical energy‐conversion technologies for environmentally friendly production or utilization of energy requires highly active and stable electrocatalysts and many strategies have been accordingly proposed to achieve this goal. Of them, confinement strategy holds great potential because it can create unique microenvironment for electrocatalysts. Thanks to the exceptional physical and chemical properties, the two‐dimensional materials (2D materials) as building block are powerful in constructing inimitable “confined space” which will endow electrocatalysts with many intriguing characteristics, such as admirable electron conductivity, enhanced stability and anti‐poisoning capability, and more accessible active sites as well. Despite numerous efforts have been devoted and some progress has been made in confinement research, there exist substantial challenges to be tackled with regard to respectable activity, stability, and mass production of the confined electrocatalysts. In this Minireview, the concept of “nanoparticles confined in two‐dimensional materials (denoted as NCTDM)” and their up‐to‐date synthetical strategies, including host‐guest assembly method and in‐situ formation method have been firstly discussed. In addition, with special emphasis on their application, the NCTDM as a new type of high‐performance electrocatalysts for electrochemical energy‐conversion technologies such as water splitting, fuel cells and electrochemical reduction of CO2 to C1 molecules have been systematically introduced.

Following the Kinetics of Undercover Catalysis with APXPS and the Role of Hydrogen as an Intercalation Promoter

“…In particular, we expect pulsing experiments to provide a better understanding of the limitations in catalyst reactivity induced by mass transport limitations. Ultimately, we hope that pulsing experiments will become a compelling method for tracking the underlying reason for the increased undercover activity reported below several 2D materials. ,,,, …”

“…Ultimately, we hope that pulsing experiments will become a compelling method for tracking the underlying reason for the increased undercover activity reported below several 2D materials. 4,12,13,15,16 Finally, we wish to highlight that the present work uses very simple gas-composition pulses consisting of H 2 :O 2 , CO:O 2 , and combined H 2 :CO:O 2 mixtures. Future experiments may use more complex pulsing schemes such as gas-composition pulses offset in time or even gas pulses combined with temperature pulses as additional drivers for the intercalation and deintercalation of species or the ignition of undercover reactions.…”

“…2 A specific case of confined catalysis is undercover catalysis, which takes advantage of nanoconfined environments that provide favorable intermolecular interactions between the adsorbates. Various configurations have been reported so far to provide this confinement: from the void spaces in between van der Waals materials or two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals heterostructures, 3,4 to nanotubes, 5 and porous surfaces. 6 In this work, we will focus on the space between 2D covers and a catalytic surface.…”

Pd-intercalated black phosphorus: An efficient electrocatalyst for CO2reduction

“…The origin of nanoconfined structures primarily lies in integrating guest species into the vacant spaces of host materials, culminating in nucleation (6)(7)(8). This multifaceted process is steered by several factors, including ion or atom diffusion at the host interface and the interplay of charge transfers and nucleation within the voids (8)(9)(10).…”

Highly dispersed RuCo clusters on N-doped carbon shell for Li–O2/CO2batteries and exploitation of the synergistic effect of O2and CO2

“…Due to the excellent catalytic performance of the RuCo alloy, it is often used in the oxygen reduction reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and other electrocatalytic reactions. [47][48][49][50] To solve the above problems, carbon nanostructures with RuCo nanoclusters were introduced into Li-O 2 /CO 2 batteries as cathode materials on account of their excellent electrical conductivity, large surface area, and high electrochemical stability. Besides, it also provides efficient diffusion channels for O 2 /CO 2 , enough space for product storage, and active sites for electrochemical reactions.…”