摘要
With the rapid development of society and economy, the excessive consumption of fossil energy has led to the global energy and environment crisis. In order to explore the sustainable development of new energy, research based on electrocatalysis has attracted extensive attention in the academic circle. The main challenge in this field is to develop nano-catalysts with excellent electrocatalytic activity and selectivity for target products. The state of the active site in catalyst plays a decisive role in the activity and selectivity of the reaction. In order to design efficient and excellent catalysts, it is an effective means to adjust the electronic structure of catalysts. Electronic effects are also called ligand effects. By alloying with rare earth(RE) elements, electrons can be redistributed between RE elements and transition metal elements, achieving accurate design of the electronic structure of the active site in the alloy. Because of the unique electronic structure of RE, it has been paid attention in the field of catalysis. The outermost shell structure of RE elements is basically the same as that of the lower shell, except that the number of electrons in the 4f orbital is different, but the energy level is similar, so their properties are very similar. When RE elements form compounds, both the f electrons in the outermost shell and the d electrons in the lower outer shell can participate in bonding. In addition, part of the 4f electrons in the third outer shell can also participate in bonding.In order to improve the performance of metal catalysts, alloying provides an effective method to design advanced functional materials. RE alloys can integrate the unique electronic structure and catalytic behavior of RE elements into metal materials, which not only provides an opportunity to adjust the electronic structure and catalytic activity of the active component, but also enhances the structural stability of the alloy and is expected to significantly improve the catalytic performance of the catalyst. From the perspective of electronic and catalytic activity, RE elements have unique electronic configuration and lanthanide shrinkage effect. Alloying with RE elements will make the alloy have more abundant electronic structure, activity, and spatial arrangement, effectively adjusting the reaction kinetics of the electrochemical process of the catalyst. In this paper, the composition,structure, synthesis of RE alloys and their applications in the field of electrocatalysis are summarized, including the hydrogen evolution reaction, the oxygen evolution reaction, the oxygen reduction reaction, the methanol oxidation reaction, the ethanol oxidation reaction, and other catalytic reactions. At the same time, the present challenges of RE alloy electrocatalytic materials are summarized and their future development direction is pointed out. In the field of electrocatalysis, the cost of catalyst is too high and the stability is not strong. Therefore, the testing process should be related to the actual application, and the test method should be standardized, so as to carry forward the field of electrocatalysis.
基金
financial support from the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFB3506200)
the National Nature Science Foundation of China (22122113)。
作者简介
Yifei Li is now studying for a master's degree of Prof.Zhenxing Li at China University of Petroleum(Beijing).His main research interests focus on synthesis of alloy nano-materials and their use in electrocatalysis;Xilin Yuan is now studying for a master's degree of Prof.Zhenxing Li at China University of Petroleum(Beijing).His main research interests focus on synthesis of alloy nano-materials and their use in electrocatalysis;Ping Wang received her Master's degree from China University of Petroleum(Beijing)in 2022.She is a Ph.D.candidate under the supervision of Prof.Zhenxing Li in the College of New Energy and Materials,China University of Petroleum(Beijing),China.Her current research interests are in the synthesis and application of functional nanomaterials;Lulin Tang was born in 1999 in Hunan Province.He is studying-for a master's degree of Prof.Zhengxing Li at China University of Petroleum(Beijing).His maininterest is the synthesis of rare earth nano-alloy catalysts and their application in electrocatalysis;Miao He was born in 1996 in Heilongjiang province.She received her Master's degree from China University of Petroleum(Beijing)in 2021.She is a Ph.D.candidate under the supervision of Prof.Zhenxing Li in the College of New Energy and Materials,China University of Petroleum(Beijing),China.Her current research interests are in the synthesis and application of functional nanomaterials;Pengen Li was born in 1998 in Henan Province.He received his bachelor's degree from Henan University of Engineering and is currently studying in Prof.Zhenxing Li's research group atthe College of New Energy and Materials,China University of Petroleum(Beijing).He is currently researching theapplication of multicomponent alloy nanomaterials in electroreduction;Corresponding authors:Jiang Li graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China with a doctorate in 2014.Heis currently a professor at the College of New Energy and Materials,China University of Petroleum(Beijing).His recent research interests focus on photocatalysis,organic synthesis,and industrial catalysis,E-mail addresses:lijiang@cup.edu.cn;Corresponding authors:Zhenxing Li obtained his Ph.D.(2011)in Peking University of China.He is now the Professor of the State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing and College of New Energy and Materials in China University of Petroleum(Beijing).His recent research interests focus on the design and synthesis of porous materials and rare earth-based nanomaterials for application in electrocatalysis,photocatalysis,and organic synthesis,E-mail addresses:lizx@cup.edu.cn。
