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Engineering Two-Dimensional Materials and Their Heterostructures as High-Performance Electrocatalysts

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Abstract

Electrochemical energy conversion between electricity and chemicals through electrocatalysis is a promising strategy for the development of clean and sustainable energy sources. This is because efficient electrocatalysts can greatly reduce energy loss during the conversion process. However, poor catalytic performances and a shortage in catalyst material resources have greatly restricted the widespread applications of electrocatalysts in these energy conversion processes. To address this issue, earth-abundant two-dimensional (2D) materials with large specific surface areas and easily tunable electronic structures have emerged in recent years as promising high-performance electrocatalysts in various reactions, and because of this, this review will comprehensively discuss the engineering of these novel 2D material-based electrocatalysts and their associated heterostructures. In this review, the fundamental principles of electrocatalysis and important electrocatalytic reactions are introduced. Following this, the unique advantages of 2D material-based electrocatalysts are discussed and catalytic performance enhancement strategies are presented, including the tuning of electronic structures through various methods such as heteroatom doping, defect engineering, strain engineering, phase conversion and ion intercalation, as well as the construction of heterostructures based on 2D materials to capitalize on individual advantages. Finally, key challenges and opportunities for the future development of these electrocatalysts in practical energy conversion applications are presented.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51521091 and 51722206), the Youth 1000-Talent Program of China, the Shenzhen Basic Research Project (No. JCYJ20170307140956657), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2018M641346), the Economic, Trade and Information Commission of Shenzhen Municipality for the “2017 Graphene Manufacturing Innovation Center Project” (No. 201901171523), and the Development and Reform Commission of Shenzhen Municipality for the development of “Low-Dimensional Materials and Devices” disciplines.

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  1. Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center (SGC), Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI), Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Qiangmin Yu, Yuting Luo, Azhar Mahmood, Bilu Liu & Hui-Ming Cheng

  2. Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Hui-Ming Cheng

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  1. Qiangmin Yu
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  2. Yuting Luo
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Correspondence to Bilu Liu or Hui-Ming Cheng.

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Yu, Q., Luo, Y., Mahmood, A. et al. Engineering Two-Dimensional Materials and Their Heterostructures as High-Performance Electrocatalysts. Electrochem. Energ. Rev. 2, 373–394 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41918-019-00045-3

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