Engineering of Carbon-Based Electrocatalysts for Emerging Energy Conversion: From Fundamentality to Functionality

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 27; no. 36; pp. 5372 - 5378
• Main Authors: Zheng, Yao, Jiao, Yan, Qiao, Shi Zhang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Blackwell Publishing Ltd 23.09.2015
• Subjects: Catalysis; Catalysts; Clean energy; DFT calculations; Direct power generation; Electrocatalysts; electrochemistry; Electronic structure; Energy conversion; nanomaterials; Renewable energy; Strategy; nanomaterials; energy conversion; electrochemistry; DFT calculations
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201500821

Over the past decade, developing advanced catalysts for clean and sustainable energy conversion has been subject to extensive study. Driven by great advances achieved in computational quantum chemistry, synthetic chemistry, and material characterization techniques, the preferential design of a most‐appropriate catalyst for a specific electrochemical reaction is possible. Here a universal process for the design of high‐performance carbon‐based electrocatalysts, by engineering their intrinsic electronic structures and physical structures to promote their extrinsic activities for different energy conversion reactions, is presented and summarized. How such a powerful strategy may aid the discovery of more electrocatalysts for a sustainable and clean energy infrastructure is discussed. Rational design of advanced electrocatalysts for emerging energy conversion, such as the oxygen reduction reaction and hydrogen/oxygen evolution reaction, is discussed. The most fundamental aspects of the electronic structure and surface adsorbing property engineering to a more‐practical level of nano technological fabrication are considered.