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Nano Research 2022, 15(12): 10343-10356 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4677-8
Review Article | Issue | Published: 26 July 2022

Progress on nanostructured gel catalysts for oxygen electrocatalysis

Show Author's Information Huan Yang1,  Huilin Hu1,  Chenfeng Xia2,  Feng You1,  Junlong Yao1,  Xueliang Jiang1( ),  Bao Yu Xia2( )
Hubei Key Laboratory of Plasma Chemistry and Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Engineering Process of Ministry of Education, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China
Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Ministry of Education), Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074, China
Keywords:
carbon, polymer, metal, oxygen electrocatalysis, gel materials
Topics:
Electrocatalysis ElectrocatalystsEnergy resources Gel process GelsOxygen evolution reactionOxygen reduction reaction
Cite this article:
Yang H, Hu H, Xia C, et al. Progress on nanostructured gel catalysts for oxygen electrocatalysis. Nano Research, 2022, 15(12): 10343-10356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4677-8
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Abstract Full text About this article

Driven by the serious ecological problems, it is urgent to explore high-efficiency sustainable energy technologies. Oxygen electrocatalysis acts as important half-reactions in the emerging electrochemical energy techniques including electrolysis and batteries. Gel composites exhibit the merits of rich porous, superior hydrophilic, and large specific surface area, which can significantly improve the electrolyte penetration and boost the kinetics process of oxygen electrocatalysis. In this invited contribution, the advances and challenges of a novel gel materials for oxygen electrocatalysis are summarized. Starting from the structure–activity–performance relationship of gel materials, synthetic routes of nanostructured gel materials, namely, radical polymerization, sol-gel method, hydrothermal/solvothermal reactions, and ligand-substitution method, are introduced. Afterward, the gel composites are divided into polymer-based, metal-based, and carbon-based materials in turn, and their applications in oxygen electrocatalysis are discussed respectively. At the end, the perspective and challenges for advanced gel oxygen electrocatalysts are proposed.


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About this article

Progress on nanostructured gel catalysts for oxygen electrocatalysis

Show Author's information Huan Yang1, Huilin Hu1, Chenfeng Xia2, Feng You1, Junlong Yao1, Xueliang Jiang1( ), Bao Yu Xia2( )
Hubei Key Laboratory of Plasma Chemistry and Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Engineering Process of Ministry of Education, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China
Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Ministry of Education), Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074, China

Abstract

Driven by the serious ecological problems, it is urgent to explore high-efficiency sustainable energy technologies. Oxygen electrocatalysis acts as important half-reactions in the emerging electrochemical energy techniques including electrolysis and batteries. Gel composites exhibit the merits of rich porous, superior hydrophilic, and large specific surface area, which can significantly improve the electrolyte penetration and boost the kinetics process of oxygen electrocatalysis. In this invited contribution, the advances and challenges of a novel gel materials for oxygen electrocatalysis are summarized. Starting from the structure–activity–performance relationship of gel materials, synthetic routes of nanostructured gel materials, namely, radical polymerization, sol-gel method, hydrothermal/solvothermal reactions, and ligand-substitution method, are introduced. Afterward, the gel composites are divided into polymer-based, metal-based, and carbon-based materials in turn, and their applications in oxygen electrocatalysis are discussed respectively. At the end, the perspective and challenges for advanced gel oxygen electrocatalysts are proposed.

Keywords: carbon, polymer, metal, oxygen electrocatalysis, gel materials

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 11 April 2022
Revised: 06 June 2022
Accepted: 20 June 2022
Published: 26 July 2022
Issue date: December 2022

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2022

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22102125). The Scientific Research Foundation of Wuhan Institute of Technology (No. K2021040) and the Innovation Foundation of Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Engineering Process of Ministry of Education (No. GCX202108) are also acknowledged.

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