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

Lakhan MN 1 , Hanan A 2 , Hussain A 3 , Ali Soomro I 4 , Wang Y 5 , Ahmed M 6 Show all authors , Aftab U 7 , Sun H 8 , Arandiyan H 9

Affiliations 

  • 1 Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science, School of Science, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
  • 2 Sunway Center for Electrochemical Energy and Sustainable Technology, SCEEST, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. R. China
  • 4 Institute of Computational Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, P. R. China
  • 5 Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia. helena.wang@unimelb.edu.au
  • 6 State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China
  • 7 Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan. umair.aftab@faculty.muet.edu.pk
  • 8 School of Resources and Materials, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, 066004 Qinhuangdao, P. R. China
  • 9 Centre for Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC), School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia. hamid.arandiyan@rmit.edu.au
Chem Commun (Camb), 2024 Apr 16.
PMID: 38625567 DOI: 10.1039/d3cc06015b

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.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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