Electrocatalysis and water treatment: Review

Electrocatalysis is a pivotal scientific discipline and a crucial part of industrial processes for the sustainable future for mankind. It is closely related to energy efficiency and the general processing rate of various electrochemical applications. Thus, a sound understanding of electrocatalysis provides versatile new functions and innovative solutions to numerous challenges we face in conventional and advanced technologies. Particularly, the challenges regarding the need for sustainable energy and water use arise with growing demands for more environmentally friendly, safer, and energy-efficient materials, which are less dependent on limited resources. In terms of resolving these challenging demands, the emergence of nanomaterials has brought a significant advance in technologies and enabled an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of electrocatalysis. In this review, we explore various electrochemical applications of both conventional and advanced technologies by categorizing them into five functioning groups: harvest, removal, consumption, storage, and analytics. For these applications with a particular aspect of sustainable energy and water, we discuss the roles and fundamentals of electrocatalysis, including technical parts such as cell configuration and its core elements, as well as the theories of thermodynamics and kinetics. Furthermore, we discuss how nanomaterials development and research activities have contributed to the deep understanding of nano electrocatalysis by reviewing some of the recent progress of various technologies. Finally, we explore the roles and the trend of these advanced nanomaterials in electrocatalysis with a focus on the properties and the design of materials.