Affiliation:
1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering and Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Ministry of Education) Hunan University Changsha 410082 P. R. China
2. School of Resources, Environment and Materials Guangxi University Nanning 530004 P. R. China
3. College of Life and Environmental Sciences Central South University of Forestry and Technology Shaoshan South Road, Tianxin District Changsha 410004 P. R China
4. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering University of Alberta Edmonton Alberta T6G 1H9 Canada
5. Department of Applied Physics The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Kowloon P. R China
Abstract
AbstractSingle‐atom catalysts (SACs), combining the advantages of multiphase and homogeneous catalysis, have been increasingly investigated in various catalytic applications. Carbon‐based SACs have attracted much attention due to their large specific surface area, high porosity, particular electronic structure, and excellent stability. As a cheap and readily available carbon material, biochar has begun to be used as an alternative to carbon nanotubes, graphene, and other such expensive carbon matrices to prepare SACs. However, a review of biochar‐based SACs for environmental pollutant removal and energy conversion and storage is lacking. This review focuses on strategies for synthesizing biochar‐based SACs, such as pre‐treatment of organisms with metal salts, insertion of metal elements into biochar, or pyrolysis of metal‐rich biomass, which are more simplistic ways of synthesizing SACs. Meanwhile, this paper attempts to 1) demonstrate their applications in environmental remediation based on advanced oxidation technology and energy conversion and storage based on electrocatalysis; 2) reveal the catalytic oxidation mechanism in different catalytic systems; 3) discuss the stability of biochar‐based SACs; and 4) present the future developments and challenges regarding biochar‐based SACs.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China