The role of lattice strain in advancing electrocatalytic performance: from mechanisms to practical applications

Abstract

Lattice strain engineering has emerged as a powerful and versatile strategy for modulating the electronic and geometric structures of electrocatalysts at the atomic scale. By finely tuning interatomic distances and orbital interactions, lattice strain directly influences adsorption energetics and reaction kinetics, offering an effective pathway to overcome intrinsic activity and stability limitations in key electrochemical processes. This review systematically summarizes the fundamental principles of lattice strain effects, including electronic and geometric modulation mechanisms and their correlation with the d-band center theory. We highlight the main approaches for strain induction, such as orbital symmetry matching, antibonding state occupancy, charge redistribution, and adsorbate-induced surface relaxation. We further summarize quantitative relationships between strain and catalytic activity, including volcano plots, strain-ΔG* correlations, and strain-TOF dependencies, distinguishing between compressive and tensile strain effects across various reactions such as HER, OER, ORR, CO₂RR, and NRR. Special attention is given to how controlled strain optimizes intermediate adsorption energies in accordance with the Sabatier principle, thereby enhancing catalytic activity, selectivity, and durability. Finally, we discuss the remaining challenges in controlling strain magnitude, stability, and scalability, and outline perspectives for integrating strain engineering with other design principles. This review establishes lattice strain as a unifying and predictive framework for rational catalyst design, paving the way for high-performance electrocatalysts in sustainable energy conversion and storage technologies.