Recent advances in the synthesis and electrocatalytic application of MXene materials

• Published in: Chemical communications (Cambridge, England) Vol. 59; no. 27; pp. 3968 - 3999
• Main Authors: Shuai, Ting-Yu, Zhan, Qi-Ni, Xu, Hui-Min, Huang, Chen-Jin, Zhang, Zhi-Jie, Li, Gao-Ren
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 30.03.2023
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; Catalytic activity; Chemical reduction; Chemical synthesis; Electrocatalysis; Functional groups; Graphene; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Magnetic properties; Molybdenum carbide; MXenes; Nitrides; Optical properties; Oxygen evolution reactions; Oxygen reduction reactions; Transition metals; Two dimensional materials
• ISSN: 1359-7345; 1364-548X
• DOI: 10.1039/d2cc06418a

MXenes are a class of two-dimensional materials with a graphene-like structure, which have excellent optical, biological, thermodynamic, electrical and magnetic properties. Due to the diversity resulting from the combination of transition metals and C/N, the MXene family has expanded to more than 30 members and been applied in many fields with broad application prospects. Among their applications, electrocatalytic applications have achieved many breakthroughs. Therefore, in this review, we summarize the reports on the preparation of MXenes and their application in electrocatalysis published in the last five years and describe the two main methods for the preparation of MXenes, i.e. , bottom-up and top to bottom synthesis. Different methods may change the structure or surface termination of MXenes, and accordingly affect their electrocatalytic performance. Furthermore, we highlight the application of MXenes in the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO 2 RR), nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), and multi-functionalization. It can be concluded that the electrocatalytic properties of MXenes can be modified by changing the type of functional groups or doping. Also, MXenes can be compounded with other materials to produce electronic coupling and improve the catalytic activity and stability of the resulting composites. In addition, Mo 2 C and Ti 3 C 2 are two types of MXene materials that have been widely studied in the field of electrocatalysis. At present, research on the synthesis of MXenes is focused on carbides, whereas research on nitrides is rare, and there are no synthesis methods meeting the requirements of green, safety, high efficiency and industrialization simultaneously. Therefore, it is very important to explore environmentally friendly industrial production routes and devote more research efforts to the synthesis of MXene nitrides. This review summarizes the preparation methods of MXene and the applications of MXene in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, oxygen reduction reaction, carbon dioxide reduction reaction and nitrogen reduction reaction.