Recent Advances in Transition Metals based Compound Catalysts for Water Splitting from the Perspective of Crystal Engineering

Abstract

Although the study of energy storage and conversion by electrochemical and electrocatalytic strategies increasingly involves complex composites and heterostructures, it is known that the intrinsic properties of a particular crystalline material can also greatly affect the catalytic performance of the material. Crystal engineering strategies for optimizing target morphology, specific crystal phase and orientation, as well as the local atomic structure have proven to be promising for developing future batteries, supercapacitors or electrocatalysts. In this perspective, we summarize recent progresses in crystal engineering of transition metals based electrocatalysts for efficient hydrogen generation via water splitting.