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

Hollow carbon spheres have garnered great interest owing to their high surface area, large surface-tovolume 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.

Automated summary

Hollow carbon spheres have attracted great interest due to their high surface area, large surface-to-volume ratio, and reduced transmission lengths. Research has shown that these materials can be combined with noble metal-free hybrids for various applications in catalysis.