Recent advances in the use of nitrogen-doped carbon materials for the design of noble metal catalysts

Noble metals nanoparticles (NPs) and single atoms (SAs) supported on nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) materials display remarkable activity and selectivity in a wide variety of reactions, spanning hydrogenations, oxidations, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, and Suzuki coupling. Due to the unique interaction between the NC structure and the anchored metal center, both physical and chemical properties of the catalysts can be finely tuned. Moreover, the precise control of the coordination environment in the host support can pave the way to designing efficient noble metal catalysts with optimized active centers. This approach opens avenues for improving stability, selectivity, and catalytic activity. This review covers the recent progress in the field of catalysis by noble metals supported on N-doped carbon materials. An overview of various catalytic systems based on Au, Ag, Pd, Pt, Ru, Rh is discussed, and structure-performance relations in catalysis are described based on theoretical and experimental investigations for different classes of metals and reactions. Finally, challenges and perspectives for engineering heterogeneous catalysts based on noble metals embedded in N-doped carbon materials are described to tackle challenges regarding activity and selectivity.