Issue 39, 2024

Transition metal-based electrocatalysts for alkaline overall water splitting: advancements, challenges, and perspectives

Abstract

Water electrolysis is a promising method for efficiently producing hydrogen and oxygen, crucial for renewable energy conversion and fuel cell technologies. The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are two key electrocatalytic reactions occurring during water splitting, necessitating the development of active, stable, and low-cost electrocatalysts. Transition metal (TM)-based electrocatalysts, spanning noble metals and TM oxides, phosphides, nitrides, carbides, borides, chalcogenides, and dichalcogenides, have garnered significant attention due to their outstanding characteristics, including high electronic conductivity, tunable valence electron configuration, high stability, and cost-effectiveness. This timely review discusses developments in TM-based electrocatalysts for the HER and OER in alkaline media in the last 10 years, revealing that the exposure of more accessible surface-active sites, specific electronic effects, and string effects are essential for the development of efficient electrocatalysts towards electrochemical water splitting application. This comprehensive review serves as a guide for designing and constructing state-of-the-art, high-performance bifunctional electrocatalysts based on TMs, particularly for applications in water splitting.

Graphical abstract: Transition metal-based electrocatalysts for alkaline overall water splitting: advancements, challenges, and perspectives

Article information

Article type
Feature Article
Submitted
10 12 2023
Accepted
26 3 2024
First published
04 4 2024

Chem. Commun., 2024,60, 5104-5135

Transition metal-based electrocatalysts for alkaline overall water splitting: advancements, challenges, and perspectives

M. N. Lakhan, A. Hanan, A. Hussain, I. Ali Soomro, Y. Wang, M. Ahmed, U. Aftab, H. Sun and H. Arandiyan, Chem. Commun., 2024, 60, 5104 DOI: 10.1039/D3CC06015B

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