Metal-Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Materials as Highly Efficient Catalysts: Progress and Rational Design

As a typical class of single-atom catalysts (SACs) possessing prominent advantages of high reactivity, high selectivity, high stability, and maximized atomic utilization, emerging metal-nitrogen-doped carbon (M-N-C) materials, wherein dispersive metal atoms are coordinated to nitrogen atoms doped in carbon nanomaterials, have presented a high promise to replace the conventional metal or metal oxides-based catalysts. In this work, recent progress in M-N-C-based materials achieved in both theoretical and experimental investigations is summarized and general principles for novel catalysts design from electronic structure modulating are provided. Firstly, the applications and mechanisms on the advantages and challenges of M-N-C-based materials for a variety of sustainable fuel generation and bioinspired reactions, including the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR), nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), and nanozyme reactions are reviewed. Then, strategies toward enhancing the catalytic performance by engineering the nature of metal ion centers, coordinative environment of active centers, carbon support, and their synergistic cooperation, are proposed. Finally, prospects for the rational design of next generation high-performance M-N-C-based catalysts are outlined. It is expected that this work will provide insights into high-performance catalysts innovation for sustainable and environmental technologies.