Recent advances in rare-earth-based materials for electrocatalysis

Abstract

The past several years have witnessed great progress in electrocatalytic applications of transition-metal-based materials through electronic modulation resulting from d-d and d-p orbital coupling. Newly developed rare-earth-based materials with specific 4f orbital occupancy also reveal a significant function of electronic modulation in enhanced electrocatalytic activity, whereas there is a shortage of systematic reviews reporting the most recent progress in electrocatalysis. This review provides a timely and comprehensive summary of major achievements regarding rare earth (RE)-based electrocatalytic materials to address future investigation directions. We start with a brief introduction of the development of RE-based electrocatalysts and their advantages in electrocatalysis. Then we systematically summarize various RE-based materials, including alloys, perovskites, hybrids, and single atoms, that have been developed over the last 5 years. Finally, challenges and perspectives are presented to expedite future progress and provide some research guidance for RE-based materials. Electrocatalysts with superior performance and low production cost play a central role in industrial implementation of clean and renewable technologies. Regulating the electronic structure of transition-metal-based materials by element doping to improve their catalytic performance is the current scientific frontier in the field of electrocatalysis, but the catalytic mechanism is mainly focused on the d-d and d-p orbital coupling. Rare earth (RE) elements with specific 4f orbital occupancy reveal the significant function of electronic modulation in electrocatalysis. However, a summary of these breakthroughs regarding RE-based materials in electrocatalysis, including modulation mechanisms, materials design, and direct applications, is still lacking. Here we summarize recent advances of RE-based materials in various electrocatalytic systems. Challenges and future trends for development of RE-based materials in electrocatalysis are presented. Rare earth (RE) elements with specific 4f orbital occupancy reveal the significant function of electronic modulation in electrocatalysis. However, a summary of these breakthroughs regarding RE-based materials in electrocatalysis, including modulation mechanisms, materials design, and direct applications, is still lacking. Here we summarize recent advances of RE-based materials in various electrocatalytic systems. Challenges and future trends for development of RE-based materials in electrocatalysis are presented.