Nanocatalysts in electrosynthesis

Electrosynthesis is to use electricity to drive chemical reactions for chemical synthesis and is potentially a green approach to fuel and energy sustainability. Nanostructured catalysts play an important role in promoting electrochemical reactions under green chemistry conditions. This perspective first provides a brief tutorial on electrosynthesis and the roles the nanocatalysts play in the synthesis. It then outlines the common strategies used to develop nanocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction, CO(2) reduction reaction, and biomass upgrading. The perspective further summarizes the current methodologies that have been developed for scaling-up synthesis of nanocatalysts, which will be essential for the electrosynthesis to become a viable industry approach.