Iron-based single-atom electrocatalysts: synthetic strategies and applications
Qinglei Liu, Yongfei Wang, Zhizhi Hu, Zhiqiang Zhang
Abstract
The performance and cost of electrocatalysts play an important role in the development and application prospects of energy conversion technology. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have constituted a new frontier in the field of catalytic science in recent years. As a non-precious metal, iron (Fe)-SACs show great potential in the field of electrocatalysis, which is comparable to or even better than the performance of precious metal catalysts. However, a robust, generic synthetic strategy toward atomically dispersed Fe catalysts is still lacking, which is still a formidable challenge to maintain the dispersion of Fe atoms at high temperatures and to obtain high catalytic activity. In this review, the latest progress in the synthesis of Fe-SACs is introduced and summarized, and the electrochemical applications of Fe-SACs are further summarized and discussed. Herein, the relationship between the structural characteristics and performance of Fe-SACs is further introduced and discussed. Finally, the existing problems and development prospects of Fe-SACs are discussed.