Gel Electrocatalysts: An Emerging Material Platform for Electrochemical Energy Conversion

Seeking sustainable and cost-effective energy sources is one of the significant challenges for the sustainable development of modern society. To date, considerable expectations have been held for technologies, such as fuel cells and electrolyzers, where the performance strongly depends on electrochemical conversion processes that can generate and store chemical energy through the breaking or formation of chemical bonds. However, those advanced technologies are severely limited by the efficiency, selectivity, and durability of electrocatalysis. Thanks to their hierarchically porous architecture, compositional and structural tunability, and ease of functionalization, the family of gel materials opens exciting opportunities for advanced energy technologies. Unique advances in gel materials based on controllable compositions and functions enable gel electrocatalysts to potentially break the limitations of current materials, enhancing the device performance of electrochemical energy. Here, recent developments and challenges for nanostructured gel-based materials for electrocatalysis applications are summarized. Future possibilities and challenges for gel electrocatalysts in terms of synthesis and applications are also discussed.