Recent progress of noble metal-based single-atom electrocatalysts for acidic oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays an important role in polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) for hydrogen production, so the development of efficient and stable OER catalysts has attracted widespread attention in recent years. The noble metal-based OER catalysts are widely used in acidic media, but the expensive price and low yield of Ir have limited the large-scale applications, exploring high-activity, low-cost noble metal-based OER catalysts is critical. Noble metal-based single-atom catalysts (SACs) is a promising cost-effective alternative electrocatalysts for acidic OER with superior catalytic activity, but the structural instability and dissolution of noble metal-based SACs limits the practical implementation. In this review, we summarized the recent advances in noble metal-based SACs for acidic OER with some strategies for the improvement of catalytic activity and durability of catalysts. Finally, some issues and challenges of noble metal-based SACs are proposed.