Precision engineering of precious metal catalysts for enhanced hydrogen production efficiency

This review focuses on elucidating the strategies employed for constructing efficient and stable active sites on noble metal catalysts in water electrolysis. Through the utilization of techniques such as phase modulation, morphology modulation, alloying effect, and single-atom catalysis, the electronic structure of noble metal active center atoms can be effectively tailored. This modification mitigates the strong adsorption between the active centers and reaction intermediates, thereby bolstering the intrinsic catalytic activity of the catalysts. Furthermore, the structural stability of the catalysts is enhanced through solid electronic interactions between noble metal atoms and heteroatoms. Consequently, noble metal catalysts exhibit remarkable stability during hydrogen production from water splitting in both alkaline and acidic electrolytes.