Mechanocatalysis: Driving Sustainable Chemical Reactions Under Mild Conditions

The growing energy shortages and environmental damage make it urgent to activate chemical reactions under mild conditions, reducing energy consumption and improving efficiency. Mechanocatalysis, with its advantages of simplicity, scalability, and sustainability, has demonstrated exceptional performance in many key heterogeneous catalytic reactions and surpassed traditional catalytic methods. It possesses significant potential for future applications and development. In this review, recent advances in the field of mechanocatalysis for energy and environmental applications are systematically summarized. Meanwhile, insights into the design of effective mechanical catalysts and the mechanocatalytic reactions, especially those with gaseous reactants, are highlighted and discussed in detail. Lastly, challenges and future perspectives in the mechanocatalysis are described to guide its broader application in the field of catalysis.