Application of heteroatom doping strategy in electrolyzed water catalytic materials

Abstract

• Mainly reviews the design and synthesis methods of the latest heteroatom-doped water electrolysis catalysts. • Focusing on the design, synthesis strategies and the mechanism of improving catalytic activity. • The reaction mechanism of water electrolysis at different pH and general methods for evaluating catalytic performance are briefly reviewed. The development of clean and renewable new energy to solve the shortage of fossil energy and environmental pollution is an important research direction in the future. Hydrogen energy has been regarded as a kind of future energy because of its excellent characteristics of pollution-free and high calorific value. In addition, the electrolyzed water technology can also be combined with renewable energy sources such as solar energy to achieve complete recycling of hydrogen energy. In actual production, the realization of efficient water splitting relies to a large extent on the low-cost, high-activity and durable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) reaction catalysts. Recently, heteroatom-doped transition metal-based water electrolysis catalyst materials have shown excellent electrocatalytic performance and durability for HER and OER, showing great potential for replacing precious metal-based catalysts. This article reviews the application of heteroatom doping strategies in transition metal-based catalytic materials and their latest research progress. First, summarize the internal relationship of heteroatom doping strategy to the morphology and catalytic activity of electrolyzed water catalytic materials. Then, the preparation process of heteroatom-doped transition metal-based catalytic materials for water electrolysis and the reasons for the improved performance and related mechanisms are discussed. Finally, the opportunities and challenges for the future development of heteroatom-doped transition metal-based catalytic materials are emphasized from the perspectives of catalytic mechanism and improvement measures.