Polyoxometalate-based metal–organic complexes and their derivatives as electrocatalysts for energy conversion in aqueous systems

Abstract

Global environmental deterioration and excessive fossil fuel consumption motivate the exploration of green and sustainable power sources. It is promising to produce and utilize all kinds of clean energy by...

Nanoarchitectonics of metal oxide materials for sustainable technologies and environmental applications

“…As a consequence, eco-friendly and highly-efficient electrocatalysts enabling to reduce the overpotential and expedite the reaction kinetics are requested as an alternative to the state-of-the-art RuO 2 and IrO 2 ones. 3,32 Accordingly, water electrolysis to yield green hydrogen has been investigated in freshwater comprising acid, base or buffer systems, 52,[63][64][65][66] and is a satisfactory way to obtain sustainable energy using accessible electricity as a driving force.…”

“…Over the last decade, the worldwide scientific community has been paying increasing attention to environment and human health protection. The synergistic actions necessary to meet the open challenges associated with the actual safety requirements 1–5 are directly dependent on research activities enabling the protection and valorisation of the natural capital, an urgent global priority towards improved general welfare. In this regard, advancements in converging technologies enabling sustainable energy production, as well as purification processes yielding self-cleaning systems and facilitating the access to clean water/air, are a strategic and green requirement in alignment with the “Do No Significant Harm (DNSH)” principle.…”

“…The trait d'union that could significantly accelerate significant advancements in the target fields is the engineering of active and economically viable multifunctional catalytic platforms endowed with environmental friendliness and sufficient time stability. 12 In order to empower enhanced sustainability from a greener perspective, the development of such materials in a supported form is a mandatory task: -to replace the state-of-the-art catalysts based on noble metals (such as the highly regarded Ru and Ir oxides), suffering from toxicity, supply shortage, high cost, and limited life cycle; 3,10,32,33 -to substitute the largely employed powder-based materials, whose on-site utilization is prevented by the tendency to sinter/deactivate and inconvenient recovery processes after use. 9,15,18,19,34 Despite the globally undertaken efforts, the implementation of stable and efficient systems still remains an open and challenging task.…”