能源化学(英文) ›› 2017, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (6): 1077-1093.DOI: 10.1016/j.jechem.2017.08.008

• Reviews • 上一篇    下一篇

A review of nanocarbons in energy electrocatalysis:Multifunctional substrates and highly active sites

Cheng Tanga, Maria-Magdalena Titiricib, Qiang Zhanga   

  1. a Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Reaction Engineering and Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
    b Queen Mary University of London, School of Engineering and Materials Science, Mile End Road, E1 4NS London, UK
  • 收稿日期:2017-07-24 修回日期:2017-08-15 出版日期:2017-11-15 发布日期:2017-11-24
  • 通讯作者: Qiang Zhang,E-mail addresses:zhang-qiang@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn,zhangqiangflotu@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
  • 作者简介:Cheng Tang received his B.S. degree in 2013 in the Department of Chemical Engineering;Magdalena Titirici obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Dortmund, Germany;Qiang Zhang received his bachelor and Ph.D. degree from Tsinghua University, China in 2004 and 2009, respectively. After a stay in Case Western Reserve University, USA, and Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Germany, he joined in Tsinghua University, China at 2011.
  • 基金资助:

    This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (Nos. 2016YFA0202500 and 2016YFA0200102), the Natural Scientific Foundation of China (No. 21561130151), and Royal Society for the award of a Newton Advanced Fellowship (Ref:NA140249).

A review of nanocarbons in energy electrocatalysis:Multifunctional substrates and highly active sites

Cheng Tanga, Maria-Magdalena Titiricib, Qiang Zhanga   

  1. a Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Reaction Engineering and Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
    b Queen Mary University of London, School of Engineering and Materials Science, Mile End Road, E1 4NS London, UK
  • Received:2017-07-24 Revised:2017-08-15 Online:2017-11-15 Published:2017-11-24
  • Contact: Qiang Zhang,E-mail addresses:zhang-qiang@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn,zhangqiangflotu@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
  • About author:Cheng Tang received his B.S. degree in 2013 in the Department of Chemical Engineering;Magdalena Titirici obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Dortmund, Germany;Qiang Zhang received his bachelor and Ph.D. degree from Tsinghua University, China in 2004 and 2009, respectively. After a stay in Case Western Reserve University, USA, and Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Germany, he joined in Tsinghua University, China at 2011.
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (Nos. 2016YFA0202500 and 2016YFA0200102), the Natural Scientific Foundation of China (No. 21561130151), and Royal Society for the award of a Newton Advanced Fellowship (Ref:NA140249).

摘要: Nanocarbons are of progressively increasing importance in energy electrocatalysis, including oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution, hydrogen evolution, CO2 reduction, etc. Precious-metal-free or metal-free nanocarbon-based electrocatalysts have been revealed to potentially have effective activity and remarkable durability, which is promising to replace precious metals in some important energy technologies, such as fuel cells, metal-air batteries, and water splitting. In this review, rather than overviewing recent progress completely, we aim to give an in-depth digestion of present achievements, focusing on the different roles of nanocarbons and material design principles. The multifunctionalities of nanocarbon substrates (accelerating the electron and mass transport, regulating the incorporation of active components, manipulating electron structures, generating confinement effects, assembly into 3D free-standing electrodes) and the intrinsic activity of nanocarbon catalysts (multi-heteroatom doping, hierarchical structure, topological defects) are discussed systematically, with perspectives on the further research in this rising research field. This review is inspiring for more insights and methodical research in mechanism understanding, material design, and device optimization, leading to a targeted and high-efficiency development of energy electrocatalysis.

关键词: Nanocarbon, Energy electrocatalysis, Oxygen reduction, Oxygen evolution, Hydrogen evolution, CO2 reduction, Electron structure, Strong coupling effect, Hierarchical structure, Doping, Defect, Metal-air battery, Fuel cell, Water splitting

Abstract: Nanocarbons are of progressively increasing importance in energy electrocatalysis, including oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution, hydrogen evolution, CO2 reduction, etc. Precious-metal-free or metal-free nanocarbon-based electrocatalysts have been revealed to potentially have effective activity and remarkable durability, which is promising to replace precious metals in some important energy technologies, such as fuel cells, metal-air batteries, and water splitting. In this review, rather than overviewing recent progress completely, we aim to give an in-depth digestion of present achievements, focusing on the different roles of nanocarbons and material design principles. The multifunctionalities of nanocarbon substrates (accelerating the electron and mass transport, regulating the incorporation of active components, manipulating electron structures, generating confinement effects, assembly into 3D free-standing electrodes) and the intrinsic activity of nanocarbon catalysts (multi-heteroatom doping, hierarchical structure, topological defects) are discussed systematically, with perspectives on the further research in this rising research field. This review is inspiring for more insights and methodical research in mechanism understanding, material design, and device optimization, leading to a targeted and high-efficiency development of energy electrocatalysis.

Key words: Nanocarbon, Energy electrocatalysis, Oxygen reduction, Oxygen evolution, Hydrogen evolution, CO2 reduction, Electron structure, Strong coupling effect, Hierarchical structure, Doping, Defect, Metal-air battery, Fuel cell, Water splitting