Issue 45, 2020

Metal-free photo- and electro-catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

Hydrogen production as very attractive clean energy technology has sparked the accelerated development of catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) towards efficient photo- and electrolytic water splitting. In particular, metal-free catalysts are intensively investigated as good substitutes for metal-based catalysts towards the HER due to their earth-abundance, good conductivity, low toxicity and low cost. Although some reviews have surveyed metal-free catalysts for water splitting, the tremendous recent advances require an update as a guide for further development. This review mainly summarizes the recent progress on theoretical calculations, experimental approaches and fundamental insights for metal-free catalysts. In particular, the Gibbs free energy of the intermediate state, ΔGH*, is an inclusive and much more influential descriptor for HER catalysts considering advanced methods beyond density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and a fine structure and high doping content can greatly improve the catalytic activity for the HER, but make the preparation process increasingly complicated. Therefore, simple and rapid preparation routes are highly desirable and urgently required. Thus, theoretical calculations have been applied to predict the structure–activity relationship of catalysts as a guide for good design. Non-carbonaceous metal-free catalysts are also included in this survey. All these developments and accomplishments are systematically summarized and thoughtfully discussed, and the overall perspectives for the current challenges and future development in this field are offered. It is our intention that this comprehensive review will be very informative for the future design and synthesis of metal-free catalysts for the HER and attract increasing interest to explore deep scientific insights for broad important practical applications and critical advances in the field of catalysis.

Graphical abstract: Metal-free photo- and electro-catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
04 set 2020
Accepted
14 out 2020
First published
19 out 2020

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020,8, 23674-23698

Metal-free photo- and electro-catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

T. Li, T. Hu, L. Dai and C. M. Li, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 23674 DOI: 10.1039/D0TA08704A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements