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The Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Solution: From Theory, Single Crystal Models, to Practical Electrocatalysts
Author(s) -
Zheng Yao,
Jiao Yan,
Vasileff Anthony,
Qiao ShiZhang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201710556
Subject(s) - electrocatalyst , electrochemistry , water splitting , catalysis , hydrogen , nanotechnology , chemistry , hydrogen production , characterization (materials science) , inorganic chemistry , materials science , electrode , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , photocatalysis , engineering
The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a fundamental process in electrocatalysis and plays an important role in energy conversion for the development of hydrogen‐based energy sources. However, the considerably slow rate of the HER in alkaline conditions has hindered advances in water splitting techniques for high‐purity hydrogen production. Differing from well documented acidic HER, the mechanistic aspects of alkaline HER are yet to be settled. A critical appraisal of alkaline HER electrocatalysis is presented, with a special emphasis on the connection between fundamental surface electrochemistry on single‐crystal models and the derived molecular design principle for real‐world electrocatalysts. By presenting some typical examples across theoretical calculations, surface characterization, and electrochemical experiments, we try to address some key ongoing debates to deliver a better understanding of alkaline HER at the atomic level.