Development of Transition Metal Nitrides as Oxygen and Hydrogen Electrocatalysts

With the increasing demand for energy, various emerging energy storage/conversion technologies have gradually penetrated human life, providing numerous conveniences. The practical application efficiency is often affected by the slow kinetics of hydrogen or oxygen electrocatalytic reactions(hydrogen evolution and oxidation reactions, oxygen evolution and reduction reactions) among the emerging devices. Therefore, the researchers devote to finding cost-effective electrocatalysts. Non-noble metal catalysts have low cost and good catalytic activity, but poor stability, agglomeration, dissolution, and other problems will occur after a long cycle, such as transition metal oxides and carbides. Transition metal nitrides(TMNs) stand out among all kinds of non-noble metal catalysts because of the intrinsic platinum-like electrocatalytic activities, relatively high conductivity, and wide range of tunability. In this review, the applications of TMNs in electrocatalytic fields are summarized based on the number of metals contained in TMNs. The practical application potentials of TMNs in fuel cell, water splitting, zinc-air battery and other electrochemical energy storage/conversion devices are also listed. Finally, the design strategies and viewpoints of TMNs-based electrocatalyst are summarized. The potential challenges of TMNs-based electrocatalyst in the development of electrocatalytic energy devices in the future are prospected.