Design and synthesis of noble metal–based electrocatalysts using metal–organic frameworks and derivatives

To meet the growing demand for clean and renewable energy, noble metal–based electrocatalysts with minimum noble metal usage and optimum activity as well as long-term stability are highly desired in various energy storage and conversion devices. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and their derivatives have been extensively applied to design and synthesize nanostructures and nanomaterials with high catalytic activities in various electrochemical reactions. However, there are few literatures reviewing corresponding progress in using MOFs and derivative to prepare noble metal–based electrocatalysts. Thus, in this review, a concise and lucid introduction of this field is provided. We mainly introduce different synthetic methods that emerged in representative achievements and discuss the roles of MOFs and their derivatives. The existing problems and future perspectives toward the design of diversified noble metal–based electrocatalysts via this approach are addressed at the end.