Synergetic catalytic effects by strong metal–support interaction for efficient electrocatalysis

Strong metal−support interaction (SMSI), namely the strong electronic and structural interaction between metal nanoparticles and supports, one of the most typical synergetic catalytic effects in composite catalysts, has been found critically important in the design of catalyst for thermocatalysis in the past. Recently, however, important and great progress of SMSI-based synergetic effects has been made in electrocatalysis, such as electrocatalyst design and electrocatalytic mechanism investigations. To better understand the nature of the synergetic effect assisting the further development of electrocatalysts, a comprehensive and in-depth overview highlighting and discussing the recent advances of SMSI in electrocatalysis is necessary and highly desirable but still absent. Herein, this review firstly presents various strategies of designing and constructing composite catalysts featuring SMSI. Further from the perspectives of electrocatalysis, the characterization techniques towards the electron structure, local interfacial and morphological features and active sites for SMSI-based electrocatalysts, have been summarized in detail. Importantly, the recent advances in the design of single- and bi-functional electrocatalysts featuring SMSI-based synergetic catalytic effects, and the key roles of SMSI during the electrocatalytic reactions are emphasized. Finally, the challenges and prospects are discussed and out-looked to highlight the key remaining issues in the future development of SMSI-based electrocatalysts.