image: A DETAILED SUMMARY OF AMORPHOUS ELECTROCATALYSTS TOWARDS WATER SPLITTING INCLUDING SYNTHESIS METHODS, STABILIZATION STRATEGIES, PERFORMANCE EVALUATION, AND MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING IS REVIEWED, AND THE MOST UP-TO-DATE RESULTS ARE PRESENTED, ALONG WITH THE PERSPECTIVES AND CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF AMORPHOUS ELECTROCATALYSTS.
Credit: Chinese Journal of Catalysis
This review is led by Prof. Xiangzhi Cui (Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Postdoc. Han Tian (Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences). They provided an overview of recent developments in amorphous materials for the electrocatalytic field. Owing to the special structural characteristics of large numbers of randomly oriented bonds and surface exposed defects, amorphous materials can markedly enhance the active site amount and optimize the adsorption and desorption of reactants. Therefore, a large number of amorphous electrocatalysts have emerged for effectively catalyzing water splitting.
First, the team summarizes the reaction processes and reaction mechanisms of two half-reactions (OER and HER) in water splitting under acidic and basic conditions, respectively, which help to design high-performance electrocatalysts. Second, they provide a brief summary of the design and synthetic strategies for amorphous electrocatalysts. The rational synthetic strategies that can ensure the desired homogeneous composition and distribution of active sites have been extensively explored.
Next, the team summarizes the methods to enhance the stability of amorphous catalysts and explain their intrinsic mechanisms. Through the rational application of stabilization strategies, it is accessible to reduce the probability of the active site for amorphous catalysts being attacked by water or ions and extend the catalyst lifetime. Then, state-of-the-art studies on the recent advances in water splitting are elucidated comprehensively. This review provides in-depth discussions on the applications of amorphous catalysts toward OER, HER, OWS, along with the mechanistic exploration by combining the experiments and theoretical calculations.
Finally, key scientific issues encountered in the development of amorphous catalysts in the renewable energy conversion applications are discussed in depth. Perspectives to indicate future research directions of this field are also provided concisely. The results were published in Chinese Journal of Catalysis (https://doi.org/10.1016/S1872-2067(23)64486-9).
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About the Journal
Chinese Journal of Catalysis is co-sponsored by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Chemical Society, and it is currently published by Elsevier group. This monthly journal publishes in English timely contributions of original and rigorously reviewed manuscripts covering all areas of catalysis. The journal publishes Reviews, Accounts, Communications, Articles, Highlights, Perspectives, and Viewpoints of highly scientific values that help understanding and defining of new concepts in both fundamental issues and practical applications of catalysis. Chinese Journal of Catalysis ranks at the top one journal in Applied Chemistry with a current SCI impact factor of 16.5. The Editors-in-Chief are Profs. Can Li and Tao Zhang.
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