Past, present, prospect: AI‐driven evolution of low‐dimensional material design for sustainable environmental solutions

Abstract Low‐dimensional materials have attracted significant interest for their unique properties, including high surface area, confined but tunable electronics and superior catalysis, making them ideal for environmental applications. Their potential to address key challenges in solar energy conversion and in‐situ remediation highlights their importance in advancing environmental sustainability. However, traditional methods of low‐dimensional material design face significant obstacles, such as scalability limitations, high computational costs, and the inherent difficulty in accurate prediction of material properties, underscoring the need for innovative approaches. Here, we demonstrate an AI‐driven evolution of low‐dimensional material design for sustainable environmental solutions, from the traditional techniques in the past, through the present transition to computational approaches, to the prospect where AI‐enabled strategies exhibit the supremacy. This review covers properties of low‐dimensional materials and the fundamental design principles, emphasizing the pivotal role of deep learning in optimizing and accelerating design of advanced functional materials. Further explorations focus on their applications for sustainable environmental solutions, including pollution remediation, water purification, nitrogen fixation, CO 2 reduction as well as hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide production. Ultimately, the key challenges and future trends are identified in the aspects of algorithm, intelligence and scalability for environmental applications. This work offers a comprehensive overview on the evolution pathway of design strategies for low‐dimensional materials driven by AI methodology, demonstrating transformative insights that not only accelerate the discovery of low‐dimensional materials, but also motivate the environmental applications in various domains.

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Publication Details

Journal
Rare Metals
Published
2025-09-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-025-03631-1
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.09
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article

Past, present, prospect: AI‐driven evolution of low‐dimensional material design for sustainable environmental solutions

Yanan Zhang, Peilun Qiu, Dan Zhao, Chuqiao Hu et al.
3 citations
Rare Metals
Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
1.09
article

Past, present, prospect: AI‐driven evolution of low‐dimensional material design for sustainable environmental solutions

Yanan Zhang, Peilun Qiu, Dan Zhao, Chuqiao Hu, Jianqiao Liu, Qianru Zhang, Di Wu, Bo-Ru Su, Ce Fu
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Abstract Low‐dimensional materials have attracted significant interest for their unique properties, including high surface area, confined but tunable electronics and superior catalysis, making them ideal for environmental applications. Their potential to address key challenges in solar energy conversion and in‐situ remediation highlights their importance in advancing environmental sustainability. However, traditional methods of low‐dimensional material design face significant obstacles, such as scalability limitations, high computational costs, and the inherent difficulty in accurate prediction of material properties, underscoring the need for innovative approaches. Here, we demonstrate an AI‐driven evolution of low‐dimensional material design for sustainable environmental solutions, from the traditional techniques in the past, through the present transition to computational approaches, to the prospect where AI‐enabled strategies exhibit the supremacy. This review covers properties of low‐dimensional materials and the fundamental design principles, emphasizing the pivotal role of deep learning in optimizing and accelerating design of advanced functional materials. Further explorations focus on their applications for sustainable environmental solutions, including pollution remediation, water purification, nitrogen fixation, CO 2 reduction as well as hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide production. Ultimately, the key challenges and future trends are identified in the aspects of algorithm, intelligence and scalability for environmental applications. This work offers a comprehensive overview on the evolution pathway of design strategies for low‐dimensional materials driven by AI methodology, demonstrating transformative insights that not only accelerate the discovery of low‐dimensional materials, but also motivate the environmental applications in various domains.

Rare MetalsVol. 44(12)
Nanyang Technological University (SG), Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (CN), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN), Dalian Maritime University (CN), Southeast University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 21%
Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
1.09
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