Yang Zheng-Gang, Xu Hui-Min, Shuai Ting-Yu, Zhan Qi-Ni, Zhang Zhi-Jie, Huang Ke, Dai Chunlong, Li Gao-Ren
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China.
Nanoscale. 2023 Jul 20;15(28):11777-11800. doi: 10.1039/d3nr01607b.
Transition metal nitrides (TMNs) have become excellent substitutes for precious metals such as Pt and Ir in the field of electrocatalysis because of their excellent electrocatalytic performance, high conductivity, good corrosion resistance and stability. As we all know, the commonly utilized carbon-based materials corrode easily during electrocatalysis, which will lead to catalyst falling off and agglomeration. Compared with carbon-based materials, TMNs have stronger corrosion resistance and higher stability. In the metal nitrides, a variety of chemical bonds (metal bond, ionic bond and covalent bond) coexist, among which the ionic bond between metal atoms and nitrogen atoms can make the d-band shrink and narrow, which leads to TMNs having characteristics similar to precious metals in the electrocatalytic process; thus, they can be used as a substitute for precious metal catalysts. In this paper, the synthesis method and catalytic principle of transition metal nitrides and their applications in the fields of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are discussed, and the shortcomings of TMNs as a catalyst, the challenges faced in catalyst research and the developments and prospects for the future are pointed out.
过渡金属氮化物（TMNs）因其优异的电催化性能、高导电性、良好的耐腐蚀性和稳定性，已成为电催化领域中铂和铱等贵金属的优良替代品。众所周知，常用的碳基材料在电催化过程中容易腐蚀，这会导致催化剂脱落和团聚。与碳基材料相比，TMNs具有更强的耐腐蚀性和更高的稳定性。在金属氮化物中，多种化学键（金属键、离子键和共价键）共存，其中金属原子与氮原子之间的离子键可使d带收缩变窄，这导致TMNs在电催化过程中具有与贵金属相似的特性；因此，它们可作为贵金属催化剂的替代品。本文讨论了过渡金属氮化物的合成方法、催化原理及其在析氢反应（HER）、析氧反应（OER）和氧还原反应（ORR）领域的应用，并指出了TMNs作为催化剂的缺点、催化剂研究面临的挑战以及未来的发展和前景。
