Catalytically Active Carbon for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Energy Conversion: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives

Abstract

The shortage and unevenness of fossil energy sources are affecting the development and progress of human civilization. The technology of efficiently converting material resources into energy for utilization and storage is attracting the attention of researchers. Environmentally friendly biomass materials are a treasure to drive the development of new‐generation energy sources. Electrochemical theory is used to efficiently convert the chemical energy of chemical substances into electrical energy. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the development of green and economical electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Although many reviews have been reported around the application of biomass‐derived catalytically active carbon (CAC) catalysts in ORR, these reviews have only selected a single/partial topic (including synthesis and preparation of catalysts from different sources, structural optimization, or performance enhancement methods based on CAC catalysts, and application of biomass‐derived CACs) for discussion. There is no review that systematically addresses the latest progress in the synthesis, performance enhancement, and applications related to biomass‐derived CAC‐based oxygen reduction electrocatalysts synchronously. This review fills the gap by providing a timely and comprehensive review and summary from the following sections: the exposition of the basic catalytic principles of ORR, the summary of the chemical composition and structural properties of various types of biomass, the analysis of traditional and the latest popular biomass‐derived CAC synthesis methods and optimization strategies, and the summary of the practical applications of biomass‐derived CAC‐based oxidative reduction electrocatalysts. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the latest advances to provide research directions and design ideas for the development of catalyst synthesis/optimization and contributes to the industrialization of biomass‐derived CAC electrocatalysis and electric energy storage.

Mono-Element Boron Nanomaterials for Energy Conversion and Storage: Preparation, Recent Progress, and Perspectives

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Understanding Reactive Oxygen Species in Potential-Resolved Electrochemiluminescence of Luminol-Dissolved O2

“…However, the production of ROS is complicated, involving multiple steps and intermediates during the ECL process. Specifically, ROS can be obtained by oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) under negative potential and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) under positive potential, which involves the generation of intermediates like O 2 •– , HO • , and H 2 O 2 and their mutual conversions. , Moreover, the generation of ROS can be affected by various factors, such as different potential ranges and scan directions. ,, More specifically, the dissolved O 2 is first reduced into O 2 •– , then converted into HO 2 – and further reduced into HO • under the different negative potentials in alkaline solution. , Meanwhile, HO • , HO 2 – , and O 2 •– can be directly formed under the different positive potentials by oxidation of HO – in alkaline solution. , These produced ROS at different potentials can affect the ECL performances of luminol-dissolved O 2 significantly. However, how these ROS influence the potential-resolved ECL pathways was unclear.…”