Heterogeneous catalytic systems based on nanomaterials have advanced energy conversion technology development. However, performance enhancement and cost-effectiveness still meet challenges, limiting their application potential. To address these challenges, one potential solutions is to introduce the local microenvironments - such as mechanical strain, electric fields, and internal Stocky barriers, etc.,- to tailor the catalyst surface activates, which have gained rising attention in microstructured catalysis in energy and environmental fields.
This talk will present our recent developments in the nanoscale solid-material based catalysts for alcohol photoreforming, water splitting and CO2 reduction. Our continuous research efforts have led to significant advancements in the design of integrated nanomaterials, incorporating both active catalytic sites and relevant microenvironment perturbations. In our design, we considered interior strain from solid phase, lattice-mismatch-induced strain, plasmonic resonance-induced electric fields, heterointerface induced interior barrier, and the remained surfactants post catalyst growth and their sole and combined effects on the catalysis. Our catalysts cover 2D materials, core-shell, single atoms, and Janus structures. These studies highlight the tunability of catalyst surface activity through materials integration, further enhanced by manipulating single-to-multiple local reaction environments. Nanointegration with microenvironment engineering offers versatile strategies for tailoring performance in nano-energy advancements while mitigating environmental contamination.