Core/yolk-shell nanoreactors for tandem catalysis

Tandem catalysis is of great significance in industrial production. Among various catalysts, the core/yolk-shell nanoreactors have been regarded as one of the most promising ones. Their special hierarchical structure is an excellent platform for the deposition of various active sites, thus bringing strong interaction reactions. More importantly, their well-controlled shell structures can prudentially select the filterable components onto the inner cores, which facilitates the operation of tandem reaction steps. In this review, we systematically summarize the state-of-art encouraging progress of the core/yolk-shell tandem nanoreactors. Apart from their unique characteristics and attractive advantages, we also explored the innovative synthetic approaches as well as the potential application fields. Meanwhile, the specific tandem catalytic mechanism was discussed in-depth. Finally, we outlined the challenges and opportunities of this field to propose some promising development directions.