Transition Metal Nitrides for Electrocatalytic Application: Progress and Rational Design

Abstract

The energy crisis and environmental issues are becoming more severe due to the long-term consumption of fossil fuels. Therefore, novel energy-conversion devices with high energy density and environmental friendliness are expected to provide reliable alternatives to traditional fossil-based energy systems. However, because of the inevitable use of costly precious metals as the electrode catalysts for such devices, their popularization is seriously hindered. Transition metal nitrides (TMNs) exhibit similar surface and adsorption properties to noble metals because the atomic distance between metal atoms increases and the d-band center of metal atoms downshifts after nitrogen atoms enter the metal lattice. TMNs have become one of the best electrode materials to replace noble metal-based electrocatalysts in next-generation energy-storage and energy-conversion devices. In this review, the recent developments in the electrocatalytic application of TMNs are covered. First, we discuss the structure and activity origin of TMNs and introduce the common synthesis methods for the preparation of TMNs. Subsequently, we illustrate the applications of mono-metallic TMNs and multi-metallic TMNs in oxygen-reduction reaction, oxygen-evolution reaction, and bifunctional oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. Finally, we summarize the challenges of TMNs encountered at the present stage, and expect their future development.

High entropy materials as emerging electrocatalysts for hydrogen production through low-temperature water electrolysis

“…The electrochemical performance of water electrolysers is largely limited by the kinetics of both half reactions. Thus, many efforts have been made to develop new highperformance electrocatalysts enabling high activity and outstanding stability for HER and OER, such as, various platinum group metal (PGM) nanostructures [25][26][27], transition metal phosphides and phosphates [28][29][30][31], chalcogenides [32][33][34][35][36][37][38], carbides [39][40][41], and nitrides [41][42][43]. Interested readers can refer to some review articles published recently [28,33,34,39,40,42,44,45], For most metal-containing electrocatalysts, it is generally accepted that it is the metal sites that contribute mainly to catalysis and that the synergy among different metal species in the catalyst would enhance catalytic performance.…”

“…Thus, many efforts have been made to develop new highperformance electrocatalysts enabling high activity and outstanding stability for HER and OER, such as, various platinum group metal (PGM) nanostructures [25][26][27], transition metal phosphides and phosphates [28][29][30][31], chalcogenides [32][33][34][35][36][37][38], carbides [39][40][41], and nitrides [41][42][43]. Interested readers can refer to some review articles published recently [28,33,34,39,40,42,44,45], For most metal-containing electrocatalysts, it is generally accepted that it is the metal sites that contribute mainly to catalysis and that the synergy among different metal species in the catalyst would enhance catalytic performance. In this context, high entropy materials (HEMs) comprising five or more metal elements have recently emerged as a new family of electrocatalysts and shown promise as an efficient and stable alternative to the current state-of-the-art catalysts for use in AEL and PEMWE [46][47][48][49][50][51].…”

Oxygen Electrocatalysis by Transition Metal Nitrides: History, Current Trends and Future Prospects

“…There are also a few reports highlighting the role of TMNs in catalyzing ORR [16b,17,21] . However, to the best of our knowledge, there is rarely any review article briefing the role of TMNs toward ORR and OER collectively to help the scientific community for a better understanding while designing a new catalytic material of interest with metal nitrides [23] …”

“…[16b,17,21] However, to the best of our knowledge, there is rarely any review article briefing the role of TMNs toward ORR and OER collectively to help the scientific community for a better understanding while designing a new catalytic material of interest with metal nitrides. [23] Therefore, with this minireview, we focus on bringing recent developments in the nanoengineering of TMNs for oxygen electrocatalysis to evaluate the critical works and give a direction for further advancements. Here, we limit our discussion to a more focused topic and significant breakthroughs to avoid repetition.…”

Ultralow Loading Ru-Mo2C on CNT Boosting High Durability Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

“…[18][19][20][21][22] Previous studies have proven that Ru-Mo based electrocatalysts possessed excellent activities for ORR, CO 2 reduction, methanol oxidation and hydrogen evolution reaction. [23][24][25][26][27][28] Unfortunately, the limited practical application of Ru-Mo based electrocatalysts has been a bottleneck due to their lower durability as they are prone to corrosion and aggregation. It has been shown that structuring the size and configuration of metal nanoparticles radically alters their electrocatalytic properties.…”