Versatile construction of a hierarchical porous electrode and its application in electrochemical hydrogen production: a mini review

The rational design of earth-abundant transition metal-based porous electrodes is of great importance for developing next-generation electrocatalysts for water splitting. Solid-vapor treatment is a simple and versatile synthetic method to prepare transition metal compound related architectures. With this great synthetic methodology, transition metal-based hierarchical porous electrodes with well-controlled composition and geometrical configuration have been rationally fabricated. The reaction mechanism of solid-vapor methodology in preparing transition metal based hierarchical porous catalysts and recent advances for electrochemical water splitting are illustrated and discussed. The current challenges and future prospects are also provided to stimulate the development of promising transition metal-based hierarchical porous electrodes for commercial applications.