Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2020, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (12): 1791-1811.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(20)63652-X

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Sustainable synthesis of supported metal nanocatalysts for electrochemical hydrogen evolution

Qian Chena, Yao Nieb, Mei Minga,c, Guangyin Fana, Yun Zhanga, Jin-Song Huc   

  1. a College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610068, Sichuan, China;
    b College of Chemistry, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 410033, China;
    c Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences(BNLMS), CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS), Beijing 100190, China
  • Received:2020-02-07 Revised:2020-03-30 Online:2020-12-18 Published:2020-08-14
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21905187, 21777109), Key Laboratory of Green Catalysis of Higher Education Institutes of Sichuan (LZJ1802), and Top-notch youth Talent project of Chongqing Normal University (02030307-0075).

Abstract: Among the various types of heterogeneous catalysts, supported metal nanocatalysts (SMNCs) have attracted widespread interest in chemistry and materials science, due to their advantageous features, such as high efficiency, stability, and reusability for catalytic reactions. However, to obtain well-defined SMNCs and inhibit nanoparticle aggregation, traditional approaches generally involve numerous organic reagents, complex steps, and specialized equipment, thus hindering the practical and large-scale synthesis of SMNCs. In this review, we summarize green and sustainable synthetic methodologies for the assembly of SMNCs, including low temperature pyrolysis and solid-state, surfactant- and reductant-free, and ionic liquid assisted syntheses. The conventional application of SMNCs for electrochemical hydrogen evolution and the corresponding achievements are subsequently discussed. Finally, future perspectives toward the sustainable production of SMNCs are presented.

Key words: Supported metal nanocrystals, Sustainable production, Green synthesis, Electrocatalysis, Hydrogen evolution reaction