Recent progress of Ga-based liquid metals in catalysis

Abstract

Within the last decade, the application of gallium-based liquid metals in catalysis has received great attention from around the world. This article provides an overview concerning Ga-based liquid metals (LMs) in energy and environmental applications, such as the catalytic synthesis of ethylene by non-petroleum routes via Pd-Ga liquid catalysts, alkane dehydrogenation via Pd-Ga or Pt-Ga catalysts, CO2 hydrogenation to methanol via Ni Ga or Pd/Ga2O3 catalysts, and catalytic degradation of CO2via EGaIn liquid metal catalysts below 500 °C, where Ga-based liquid metal catalysts exhibit high selectivity and low energy consumption. The formation of isolated metal sites in a liquid metal matrix allows the integration of several characteristics of multiphase catalysis (particularly the operational friendliness of product separation procedures) with those of homogeneous catalysis. In the end, this article sheds light on future prospects, opportunities, and challenges of liquid metal catalysis.