Interface engineering of advanced electrocatalysts toward alkaline hydrogen evolution reactions

The escalating energy demand and environmental degradation caused by fossil fuel use necessitate the exploration of renewable energy sources. Hydrogen fuel, recognized as a zero-carbon alternative source, is widely accepted as a key pillar in addressing these challenges. The ongoing development of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts in enhancing the activity and stability paves the way for more effective large-scale applications of water electrolysis. HER catalysts rich in heterointerfaces have garnered widespread attention from researchers due to their abundant physicochemical properties, tunable electronic structures, and synergistic effects between different active sites.

Recently, a research team led by Prof. Zidong Wei & Prof. Li Li (Chongqing University, China) published a review in the field of alkaline electrolysis of water for hydrogen evolution in Chinese Journal of Catalysis (https://doi.org/10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60130-0).

This review systematically elucidated recent advancements in interface engineering for the alkaline electrolysis HER process, encompassing bifunctional catalysts based on metal/metal oxides or hydroxides, the optimization of interface electronic structure through regulating built-in electric fields, the enhancement of hydrogen desorption by constructing hydrogen spillover and the strategy of facilitating interface water enrichment and recombination. A detailed overview of interface modulating principles and performance enhancement mechanisms was provided, with a focus on catalytic mechanisms and charge transfer processes.

      Concurrently, the article also discussed the aforementioned strategies: (1) Strategies based on bicomponent synergistic effects, built-in electric fields, and hydrogen spillover effects, presently, lack precise methods for tailoring the composition and quantity of hetero-interfaces, making it difficult to determine the exact mechanism of HER. The lack of research on the influence of the direction and intensity of the electric field on HER activity makes it difficult in balancing the rates of the four steps: water molecule dissociation, active hydrogen generation, migration, and release; (2) Current characterization techniques to precisely explore the structure of water molecules at the catalyst/solution interface and their temporal evolution patterns is still in deficiency.

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About the Journal

Chinese Journal of Catalysis is co-sponsored by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Chemical Society, and it is currently published by Elsevier group. This monthly journal publishes in English timely contributions of original and rigorously reviewed manuscripts covering all areas of catalysis. The journal publishes Reviews, Accounts, Communications, Articles, Highlights, Perspectives, and Viewpoints of highly scientific values that help understanding and defining of new concepts in both fundamental issues and practical applications of catalysis. Chinese Journal of Catalysis ranks among the top one journals in Applied Chemistry with a current SCI impact factor of 15.7. The Editors-in-Chief are Profs. Can Li and Tao Zhang.

At Elsevier http://www.journals.elsevier.com/chinese-journal-of-catalysis

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