Most processes in energy chemistry require suitable catalysts to decrease activation energy, control reaction rate and increase selectivity. As a kind of very important supports, nanocarbons are widely used for constructing various metal-based heterogenous catalysts owing to their abundant microstructures and morphologies, tunable surface area, high stability, low cost and excellent electrical conductivity. Nitrogen-doped nanocarbons are the even more attractive for the modified electronic structure and enhanced interaction with the supported species. With the assistance of N participation, metal catalysts have been constructed on N-doped nanocarbons from highly dispersed nanoparticles to sub-nanometer clusters and single sites. The metal catalysts supported on N-doped nanocarbons have exhibited unique advantages of modified electronic structure, facilitated charge transfer and high metal utilization, hence show wide applications in various energy-related reactions. This review firstly elucidates the roles of different types of nitrogen dopants for anchoring metal species from theoretical viewpoint, then summarizes the synthetic strategies of various N-doped nanocarbons and the related metal catalysts from high dispersion to single sites. Then their typical performances in energy chemistry are reviewed which ranges from electrocatalytic applications including oxygen reduction, alcohol oxidation, hydrogen oxidation, water splitting, CO₂ reduction and nitrogen reduction to thermal catalytic reactions including Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, H₂ production, hydrogenation and oxidation, as well as to photocatalytic applications and beyond. The structure-performance correlations are discussed in depth to highlight the contribution of N-doped nanocarbons. The facing challenges and research trends are also discussed for better understanding the development of advanced heterogeneous catalysts based on the heteroatom-doped nanocarbons for energy applications.

大多数能源化学过程需要合适的催化剂来降低活化能、控制反应速率和提高选择性。作为一种非常重要的载体，纳米碳具有丰富的微观结构和形貌、比表面积可调、稳定性高、成本低和优异的导电性，被广泛用于构建各种金属基多相催化剂。氮掺杂的纳米碳对于修饰的电子结构和增强的与负载物质的相互作用更具吸引力。在 N 参与的帮助下，金属催化剂已经构建在 N 掺杂的纳米碳上，从高度分散的纳米粒子到亚纳米簇和单个位点。负载在 N 掺杂纳米碳上的金属催化剂表现出独特的电子结构修饰优势，促进电荷转移和高金属利用率，因此在各种与能量相关的反应中显示出广泛的应用。该综述首先从理论角度阐明了不同类型的氮掺杂剂在锚定金属物种中的作用，然后总结了各种 N 掺杂纳米碳和相关金属催化剂从高分散到单中心的合成策略。然后回顾了它们在能源化学中的典型性能，包括电催化应用，包括氧还原、醇氧化、氢氧化、水分解、CO 然后总结了各种 N 掺杂纳米碳和相关金属催化剂的合成策略，从高分散到单点。然后回顾了它们在能源化学中的典型性能，包括电催化应用，包括氧还原、醇氧化、氢氧化、水分解、CO 然后总结了各种 N 掺杂纳米碳和相关金属催化剂的合成策略，从高分散到单点。然后回顾了它们在能源化学中的典型性能，包括电催化应用，包括氧还原、醇氧化、氢氧化、水分解、CO₂还原和氮还原到热催化反应，包括 Fischer-Tropsch 合成、H ₂生产、氢化和氧化，以及光催化应用等。深入讨论了结构-性能相关性，以突出 N 掺杂纳米碳的贡献。还讨论了面临的挑战和研究趋势，以更好地了解基于杂原子掺杂纳米碳的先进多相催化剂的能源应用开发。