Hollow carbon spheres and their noble metal-free hybrids in catalysis

Abstract

Hollow carbon spheres have garnered great interest owing to their high surface area, large surface-to-volume ratio and reduced transmission lengths. Herein, we overview hollow carbon sphere-based materials and their noble metal-free hybrids in catalysis. Firstly, we summarize the key fabrication techniques for various kinds of hollow carbon spheres, with a particular emphasis on controlling pore structure and surface morphology, and then heterogeneous doping as well as their metal-free/containing hybrids are presented; next, possible applications for non-noble metal/hollow carbon sphere hybrids in the area of energy-related catalysis, including oxygen reduction reaction, hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, water splitting, rechargeable Zn-air batteries and pollutant degradation are discussed; finally, we introduce the various challenges and opportunities offered by hollow carbon spheres from the perspective of synthesis and catalysis.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

hollow carbon spheres / functionalization / noble metal-free / catalysis

References

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Natural Science Foundation of Shandong province (Grant No. ZR2019QEM005). Project of Shandong province Higher Educational Young Innovative Talent Introduction and Cultivation Team [environmental functional material innovation team] and the SDUST Research Fund (Grant No. 2015YQJH101).

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