Electrochemical fabrication of mesoporous metal-alloy films

Nanoarchitectured mesoporous metal alloy films offer immense potential by integrating the intrinsic catalytic capabilities of their constituent metals to create suitable surface morphologies, different signal transductions and catalytic phenomena. These unique properties and functionalities have led to the development of several strategies for fabricating mesoporous alloy films, including template-based (e.g., lyotropic liquid crystalline (LLC) and di-block polymer-based templating) and template-free approaches (e.g., post-synthetic dealloying). More recently, the utilization of electrochemical methods for metallic mesoporous alloy films has ushered in a new way of fabrication and attracted much attention due to their simplicity, environmental friendliness, and cost-effectiveness. In this review article, we comprehensively reviewed the key electrochemical approaches for fabricating various types of metallic mesoporous alloy films (a wide range of geometries, pore sizes, form and tunneling structures, and metal compositions). With an emphasis on the fabrication of mesoporous bimetallic and trimetallic alloy films, we discuss their specific application for developing advanced technologies spanning from hydrogen production to fuel cell and sensor development. Furthermore, we also discuss the bottlenecks in the fabrication of mesoporous alloy films and provide a future perspective on the techniques. We envisage that this literature will guide the researcher towards research exploring engineered alloying of earth-abundant elements and translating them for industrial-scale electrocatalysis and nanomedicine application.

Automated summary

Nanoarchitectured mesoporous metal alloy films exhibit great potential in integrating the catalytic capabilities of their constituent metals, and various strategies such as template-based and template-free approaches have been developed for their fabrication. Recently, electrochemical methods have gained attention due to their simplicity, environmental friendliness, and cost-effectiveness in fabricating these films. This review comprehensively discusses the electrochemical approaches for fabricating metallic mesoporous alloy films, with a focus on bimetallic and trimetallic alloys, and their applications in hydrogen production, fuel cells, and sensors.