Idris Mustapha Balarabe, Musa Mohammed Zaharaddeen, Nuhu Sadiya, Aliyu Halima, Abba Habu, Mamba Bhekie B, Sappani Devaraj, Xolile Fuku
Institute of Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Florida Science Campus, Johannesburg 1710, South Africa.
Materials Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Energy Storage Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Physical Sciences, Federal University Dutse, Jigawa 7156, Nigeria.
ACS Omega. 2025 May 1;10(18):18184-18212. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.5c00679. eCollection 2025 May 13.
Mesoporous carbon nitride (MCN) is a fascinating material with enhanced textural properties, tailored morphology and enriched surface functionalities. Hence, it demonstrates promising performance in various applications. Over the years, various methods such as hard template, soft template, template-free, etc. have been adopted toward the preparation of MCN with controlled structural properties. Furthermore, the exciting properties of MCN have been fine-tuned by controlling the morphology and tuning the textural properties and surface functionalities, including the type and amount of nitrogen, via simple adjustment of the precursors, the carbonization temperature and the nature of the structure-directing agents/hard template. Besides these, the integration of conductive carbon, heteroatoms, metal-based materials, organic molecules, etc. was found to not only enhance MCN's performance in the already existing applications but also open up more exciting applications. The present Review begins by providing a general overview of the salient features of MCN, which dictate its performance in the various applications. Then, the Review discusses the trends in the applications of MCN-based material in the areas of electrochemical energy storage and conversion and gas storage in the past decade. The structure-property relationships of MCN-based materials in the above-mentioned applications are also discussed in detail. Emphasis is given to the role of the synthetic approach adopted and the nature of the precursor(s) used toward controlling the textural, morphological properties and chemical composition of MCN-based materials in obtaining the final product with improved performance. Moreover, the effects of modifications of key features of MCN on its electrochemical performance are also discussed. Finally, the current challenges and perspectives are provided, thereby guiding future research in the field of MCN-based materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion and gas storage.
介孔氮化碳（MCN）是一种具有优异结构性能、定制形态和丰富表面功能的迷人材料。因此，它在各种应用中展现出了良好的性能。多年来，人们采用了多种方法，如硬模板法、软模板法、无模板法等，来制备具有可控结构性能的MCN。此外，通过控制形态、调节结构性能和表面功能，包括氮的类型和含量，通过简单调整前驱体、碳化温度和结构导向剂/硬模板的性质，MCN的令人兴奋的性能得到了优化。除此之外，人们发现将导电碳、杂原子、金属基材料、有机分子等进行整合，不仅可以提高MCN在现有应用中的性能，还能开拓更多令人兴奋的应用。本综述首先概述了MCN的显著特征，这些特征决定了其在各种应用中的性能。然后，综述讨论了过去十年中基于MCN的材料在电化学能量存储与转换以及气体存储领域的应用趋势。还详细讨论了基于MCN的材料在上述应用中的结构-性能关系。重点阐述了所采用的合成方法以及所用前驱体的性质在控制基于MCN的材料的结构、形态性能和化学成分以获得性能改进的最终产品方面所起的作用。此外，还讨论了MCN关键特征的修饰对其电化学性能的影响。最后，给出了当前面临的挑战和展望，从而为基于MCN的材料在电化学能量存储与转换以及气体存储领域的未来研究提供指导。
