Benchmarking in electrocatalysis

Abstract

The field of electrocatalysis has seen remarkable progress during the last decades and is expected to become even more important to the global economy in the future due to the continued growth of the renewable electricity production. In this context, adequate benchmarking of electrocatalytic materials becomes critically important. This chapter is intended to help researchers avoiding pitfalls when measuring, analyzing and reporting electrocatalytic activities. It comprises of an introduction (Section 7.16.1); Section 7.16.2, where we briefly remind main factors affecting the rates of electrocatalytic reactions; Sections 7.16.3 and 7.16.4, which briefly introduce various types of electrocatalytic materials and methods for determining their specific surface area; Section 7.16.5, which is devoted to the methods to evaluate electrocatalytic activity; Section 7.16.6, which analyzes various activity metrics; Section 7.16.7, which presents ‘best practice’ for benchmarking electrocatalytic materials; and Section 7.16.8, which concludes the chapter.