Recent reports on hydrogen evolution reactions and catalysis

Abstract

Rapidly diminishing fossil fuels as an energy source created a lot of pressure on researchers to find an alternative of clean and renewable energy. As a vast revolution to the energy crisis, Hydrogen has emerged as a promising a fuel prioritized green resource with little environmental impact to replace traditional fossil fuels. A key challenge is the efficient production of hydrogen to meet the commercial-scale demand, for this electrochemical water splitting electrolysis has become an important method for large-scale green production of hydrogen. Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) which is the cathodic half-reaction of water splitting to produce pure H2 in large quantities by active electrocatalysts is a fascinating idea that can provide a feasible pathway to achieve efficient hydrogen production in terms of energy conversion and storage. Design and development of active, stable, and low-cost electrocatalysts is an essential prerequisite for achieving the large-scale hydrogen production. Although, electrocatalysis plays a powerful role in HER like the cost, time of reaction and selectivity, yet its disappointing performance cannot follow the concerns of industrial-scale applications, including working efficiently and longtime stability at high current densities (>1000 mA cm−2). In the present review article, we are collectively presenting an organized report about different HER electrocatalysts based on their structure and formation. We also study the crucial issues related to its work efficiency, the future challenges, and opportunities for the development of HER catalysts.