Metal/Porous Carbon Composites for Heterogeneous Catalysis: Old Catalysts with Improved Performance Promoted by N-Doping

Developing novel and efficient catalysts is always an important theme for heterogeneous catalysis from fundamental and applied research points of view. In the past, carbon materials were used as supports for numerous heterogeneous catalysts because of their fascinating properties including high surface areas, tunable porosity, and functionality. Recently, the newly emerging N-doped carbon-supported metal catalysts have arguably experienced great progress and brought the most attention over the last decades in view of the fact that nitrogen doping can tailor the properties of carbon for various applications of interest. Compared with pristine carbon-supported metal catalysts, these catalysts normally show superior catalytic performance in many heterogeneous catalytic reactions because of the introduced various metal–support interactions from N doping. In this Perspective, we focus on the fabrication methods for N-doped carbon-supported metal catalysts and the catalytic application of these fascinating catalysts in several industrially relevant reactions, including hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, oxidation, and coupling. Notably, we try to elucidate the structure–activity correlations obtained from theoretical calculation, extensive characterization, and observed catalytic performances, thereby providing guidance for the rational design of advanced catalysts for heterogeneous catalysis.