Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2023, Vol. 44: 7-49.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(22)64149-4

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Recent progress on design and applications of transition metal chalcogenide-associated electrocatalysts for the overall water splitting

Hui Sua,b,1, Jing Jianga,b,1, Shaojia Songc, Bohan Ana,b, Ning Lia,b, Yangqin Gaoa,b, Lei Gea,b,*()   

  1. aState Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of New Energy and Materials, China University of Petroleum Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
    bDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, College of New Energy and Materials, China University of Petroleum Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
    cCollege of Science, China University of Petroleum Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
  • Received:2022-07-11 Accepted:2022-09-01 Online:2023-01-18 Published:2022-12-08
  • Contact: Lei Ge
  • About author:Lei Ge (College of New Energy and Materials, China University of Petroleum Beijing) received his B.S. in 2002 and Ph.D degree in 2006 from Tianjin University. At the end of 2006, he joined the faculty of Department of Materials Science and Engineering, China University of Petroleum Beijing. From 2011 to 2012, he did postdoctoral research at The University of California at Riverside. His research interests currently focus on new materials and energy photocatalysis, electrocatalysis with emphasis on design of new catalysts and control of morphology, microstructure and reaction mechanism for hydrogen production, environmental pollutants degradation, etc. Some of his recent progresses include the novel approaches to design cocatalysts decorated photocatalysts with controllable microstructures, the synthesis of novel hollow structured materials with superior catalytic performance, preparation of metal and nonmetal ions doped electrocatalysts derived from MOFs with high overwall water splitting performance. He has coauthored more than 120 peer-reviewed papers. He was invited as a young member of the editorial board of Chin. J. Catal. Since 2020.
    1 Contributed equally to this work.
  • Supported by:
    National Key R&D Program of China(2019YFC1907602);National Natural Science Foundation of China(51572295);National Natural Science Foundation of China(21273285);National Natural Science Foundation of China(21003157)

Abstract:

Electrochemical hydrogen evolution via water splitting has been regarded as a highly promising technique for fossil-fuel substitution in the future to avoid environmental pollution and energy waste. As half of the water splitting reaction, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the major obstacle because of the sluggish kinetics of the complex reaction. It is imperative and urgent to develop highly efficient, low cost and earth-abundant electrocatalysts to overcome the sluggish kinetics issue. Among the various non-noble-metal-based electrocatalysts, transition metal chalcogenide (TMS) associated materials have been exploited as potential candidates for the past few years due to their excellent electrochemical performance and unique internal structure. In this review, we have summarized the recent advances of transition metal sulfides (TMSs) for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), OER, and overall water splitting, then we have reviewed several modified strategies from the perspective of their functional concepts to synthesis methods, characterization techniques, catalytic mechanisms and performances. Finally, the existing deficiencies, challenges and future development directions of TMSs in OER, HER, and overall water splitting process are further discussed and summarized.

Key words: Transition metal chalcogenide, Hydrogen evolution reaction, Oxygen evolution reaction, Water splitting, Electrocatalysis