Sustainable synthesis of supported metal nanocatalysts for electrochemical hydrogen evolution

Among the various types of heterogeneous catalysts, supported metal nanocatalysts (SMNCs) have attracted widespread interest in chemistry and materials science, due to their advantageous features, such as high efficiency, stability, and reusability for catalytic reactions. However, to obtain well-defined SMNCs and inhibit nanoparticle aggregation, traditional approaches generally involve numerous organic reagents, complex steps, and specialized equipment, thus hindering the practical and large-scale synthesis of SMNCs. In this review, we summarize green and sustainable synthetic methodologies for the assembly of SMNCs, including low temperature pyrolysis and solid-state, surfactant- and reductant-free, and ionic liquid assisted syntheses. The conventional application of SMNCs for electrochemical hydrogen evolution and the corresponding achievements are subsequently discussed. Finally, future perspectives toward the sustainable production of SMNCs are presented. (c) 2020, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.