Recent progress on the long-term stability of hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalysts

Abstract

Developing new methodologies to produce clean and renewable energy resources is pivotal for carbon-neutral initiatives. Hydrogen (H2) is considered as an ideal energy resource due to its nontoxic, pollution-free, high utilization rate, and high calorific combustion value. Electrolysis of water driven by the electricity generated from renewable and clean energy sources (e.g., solar energy, wind energy) to produce hydrogen attracts great efforts for hydrogen production with high purity. Recently, the breakthrough of the catalyst activity limit for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts has received extensive attention. Comparatively, fewer reviews have focused on the long-term stability of HER catalysts, which is indeed decisive for large-scale electrolytic industrialization. Therefore, a systematic summary concentrated on the durability of HER electrocatalysts would provide a fundamental understanding of the electrocatalytic performance for practical applications and offer new opportunities for the rational design of the highly performed HER electrocatalysts. This review summarizes the research progress toward the HER stability of precious metals, transition metals, and metal-free electrocatalysts in the past few years. It discusses the challenges in the stability of HER electrocatalysts and the future perspectives. We anticipate that it would provide a valuable basis for designing robust HER electrocatalysts. (Figure presented.).