Damage Management in Water-Oxidizing Catalysts: From Photosystem II to Nanosized Metal Oxides

Current energy resources largely rely on fossil fuels that are expected to be depleted in 50-200 years. On a global scale, the intensive use of this energy source has resulted in highly detrimental effects to the environment. Hydrogen production by water splitting, with sunlight as the main energy source, is a promising way to augment the production of renewable energy; however, the development of an efficient and stable water-oxidizing catalyst remains a key task before a technological breakthrough based on water splitting can be realized. A main issue hampering the development of commercially viable, non-precious-metal-based catalysts is their susceptibility to degradation. To efficiently address this major drawback, self-healing catalysts that can repair their structure without human intervention will be necessary. In this review, we focus on water oxidation by natural and artificial Mn-, Co-, and Ni-based catalysts and then discuss the self-healing properties that contribute to sustaining their catalytic activity.