Non-precious Electrocatalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

The development of non-precious metal-based catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a promising research area with the potential to advance water electrolysis and enable the widespread use of hydrogen as a clean energy source. While noble metals like Pt and Pd exhibit excellent HER activity, their limited availability and high cost present significant challenges. Non-precious transition metals such as Fe, Co, and Ni have emerged as alternative catalyst materials due to their natural abundance. However, these metals often encounter obstacles related to their hydrogen adsorption behavior. This commentary highlights the various strategies employed to optimize the electronic structures of non-precious metal-based catalysts to enhance the HER performance. The outlook of non-precious metal-based catalysts is bright, with ongoing and future research activities mainly focusing on improving their properties, integrating these catalysts into commercial water electrolysis systems, and improving the scalability for large-scale hydrogen production. The development of high-performance non-precious metal-based catalysts for HER is crucial to future sustainable and efficient hydrogen production in the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.