Recent advances in MXene-based nanoarchitectures as electrode materials for future energy generation and conversion applications

In the face of the increasingly grim energy crisis and environmental pollution problems, electrochemical technology has become an important research orientation in the development of advanced energy generation and conversion systems, which has stimulated the exploration and utilization of various high-performance electrode materials. In recent years, 2D MXene, a rapidly rising star in the field of material science, opens up new avenues for designing highly-active and long-life electrode materials due to its unprecedented physicochemical characteristics, such as large surface area, metallic conductivity, high electrochemical stability, good hydrophilic properties, and tunable surface chemistries. Considering the expeditious and exciting progress on this topic achieved in the past few years, herein we systemically summarize the recent advances in the controllable fabrication of MXene-based nanoarchitectures via different synthetic methods and their applications as electrode materials for various energy generation and conversion applications, including hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution and reduction, alcohol oxidation, nitrogen reduction as well as CO2 reduction reactions. In the end, the major challenges and opportunities for the future development of MXene-based nanoarchitectures are also discussed.