Transition Metal Carbide Complex Architectures for Energy‐Related Applications

Abstract

Transition metal carbides (TMCs), as a family of special interstitial alloys, exhibit novel intrinsic characteristics such as high melting point, high electronic conductivity, excellent mechanical and chemical stability, and good corrosion resistance, and hence have attracted ever-growing attention as promising electrode materials for energy-related applications. In this regard, we give a comprehensive overview of the structural design of transition metal carbide complex architectures and their structure advantages for energy-related applications. After a brief classification, we summarize in detail recent progress in controllable design and synthesis of TMCs with complex nanostructures (e.g., zero-, one-, two-, and three-dimensional, and self-supported electrodes) for electrochemical energy storage and conversion applications including metal-ion batteries, supercapacitors, rechargeable metal-air batteries, fuel cells, and water splitting. Finally, we end this review with some potential challenges and research prospects of TMCs as electrode materials for energy-related applications.

Melamine-assisted synthesis of ultrafine Mo2C/Mo2N@N-doped carbon nanofibers for enhanced alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction activity

“…Transition metal compounds have been widely studied as electrocatalysts for HER in recent years [10,11]. Among these compounds, Mo 2 C and Mo 2 N are outstanding due to their similar d-band density with Pt, good hydrophilia and chemical stability [12][13][14], hence, arising concentrated interests.…”

Insights into N, P, S multi-doped Mo2C/C composites as highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction catalysts

“…Among them, molybdenum carbide (Mo 2 C) is highlighted as one of the most promising candidates with the merits of Pt-like electronic conguration, high chemical stability and tunable surface/bulk properties. 18 Nevertheless, both the excessive aggregation and the unoccupied d-orbitals with a large density of Mo 2 C have greatly caused intrinsic limitations on the HER kinetics. 19,20 Recently, as demonstrated by a series of theoretical and experimental investigations, heteroatomic dopants, including transition-metal atoms (e.g., Fe, 21 Co, 22 Ni, 23 Mn, 24 and W 25 ) and nonmetal atoms (e.g., N, 26,27 P, 28 and S 29 ), have been veried to be feasible to modulate the electronic properties and lower the density of d-orbital vacancies of Mo 2 C, owing to the enriched electrons or relatively lower electronegativity.…”

Transition‐Metal Oxides/Carbides@Carbon Nanotube Composites as Multifunctional Electrocatalysts for Challenging Oxidations and Reductions

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] To date, most well-established OER electrocatalysts such as ruthenium or iridium oxidess how low ORR activity,w hereas highly efficient ORR electrocatalysts, for example, Pt, show only moderate OER activity.F urthermore, the high cost of noble-metal catalysts makes their large-scale use prohibitively expensive. [19][20][21][22][23] Although top-downs yntheses of transition-metal oxide/carbide-carbon composites have been explored in detail,t he bottom-up fabrication of such composites starting from molecular metal oxide precursors has only recently become af ocus in the design of energy materials. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Currently,t hese materials are still hampered by their low electricalc onductivity and their fast degradation due to irreversible redox processes on the surfaceo ft he material.…”

“…One approach to overcome these issues is the design of nanostructured composites in which the reactive transition-metal oxideso rc arbidesa re electrically "wired" to conductive carbons ubstrates;t his leads to high-performance electrocatalysts, for example, for ORR and/or OER. [19][20][21][22][23] Although top-downs yntheses of transition-metal oxide/carbide-carbon composites have been explored in detail,t he bottom-up fabrication of such composites starting from molecular metal oxide precursors has only recently become af ocus in the design of energy materials. [24][25][26] In this work, we used manganese vanadium oxide cluster anionsa sm olecular precursors for metal oxides and carbides.…”

“…Currently, these materials are still hampered by their low electrical conductivity and their fast degradation due to irreversible redox processes on the surface of the material. One approach to overcome these issues is the design of nanostructured composites in which the reactive transition‐metal oxides or carbides are electrically “wired” to conductive carbon substrates; this leads to high‐performance electrocatalysts, for example, for ORR and/or OER . Although top‐down syntheses of transition‐metal oxide/carbide–carbon composites have been explored in detail, the bottom‐up fabrication of such composites starting from molecular metal oxide precursors has only recently become a focus in the design of energy materials …”