Applications of MAX phases and MXenes as catalysts

MAX phases and MXenes are important materials that have recently gained great popularity due to their special properties, which makes them particularly interesting for various applications, including catalytic ones. This can be seen in the large number of publications that appear annually on these materials and very recently exponential growth of scientific work in terms of materials applications. This review aims to evaluate the MAX phases and MXenes as highly efficient materials in heterogeneous catalytic applications, other than electrocatalytic ones, and to add knowledge to this field by highlighting their potential. The review begins with a brief introduction to the MAX phase and MXene properties that recommend them as potential materials for heterogeneous catalytic applications, followed by four sections grouped according to the processes in which they have already proven effective. Thus, there are described applications in which MAX phase and MXene are used as catalysts or as supports to activate the C–H or C–O bond in applications such as dehydrogenation of light or aromatic alkanes, methanol formation from CH4, dry reforming, CO oxidation or water gas shift reaction (Section 2), their use in fine chemical reactions (Section 3) and in chemical degradation (Section 4) as well as the recent studies, from the last two years, in photocatalytic applications (Section 5). The review ends with some highlights regarding the huge potential of these materials for a wide range of heterogeneous catalytic applications.