MXenes: Novel electrocatalysts for hydrogen production and nitrogen reduction

Abstract MXenes as a new family of two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted increasing attention recently because of their outstanding physical and chemical properties and versatile applications, especially in energy storage and catalysis. This review will focus on the catalytic properties of MXenes and their application in electrocatalysis. In particular, we shall systematically discuss their applications into electrical-driven hydrogen production, solar-driven hydrogen production, and nitrogen reduction. This review provides an insightful understanding on the mechanism behind the outstanding performances observed in experiments and calculations, which may guide the design of novel catalysts with high catalytic activities in electrocatalysis. Additionally, a wide range of strategies to design and fabricate new MXenes as electrocatalysts will be discussed to give potential avenues for their commercial applications. Finally, the perspective on the future development is given in the end.