Issue

Vol. 12 (2020)

Single-Atom Catalysts for Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution Reaction: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-019-0349-y
Zonghua Pu
Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Énergie Matériaux et Télécommunications, Varennes, QC J3X 1S2, Canada
Ibrahim Saana Amiinu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Ruilin Cheng
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Pengyan Wang
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Chengtian Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Shichun Mu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Weiyue Zhao
The Key Laboratory of Fuel Cell Technology of Guangdong Province, The Key Laboratory of New Energy Technology of Guangdong Universities, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, People’s Republic of China
Fengmei Su
Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Mold, Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450002, People’s Republic of China
Gaixia Zhang
Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Énergie Matériaux et Télécommunications, Varennes, QC J3X 1S2, Canada
Shijun Liao
The Key Laboratory of Fuel Cell Technology of Guangdong Province, The Key Laboratory of New Energy Technology of Guangdong Universities, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, People’s Republic of China
Shuhui Sun
Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Énergie Matériaux et Télécommunications, Varennes, QC J3X 1S2, Canada

Corresponding Author: Shuhui Sun

shuhui@emt.inrs.ca

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 12 (2020), Article Number: 21

Abstract

Hydrogen, a renewable and outstanding energy carrier with zero carbon dioxide emission, is regarded as the best alternative to fossil fuels. The most preferred route to large-scale production of hydrogen is by water electrolysis from the intermittent sources (e.g., wind, solar, hydro, and tidal energy). However, the efficiency of water electrolysis is very much dependent on the activity of electrocatalysts. Thus, designing high-effective, stable, and cheap materials for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) could have a substantial impact on renewable energy technologies. Recently, single-atom catalysts (SACs) have emerged as a new frontier in catalysis science, because SACs have maximum atom-utilization efficiency and excellent catalytic reaction activity. Various synthesis methods and analytical techniques have been adopted to prepare and characterize these SACs. In this review, we discuss recent progress on SACs synthesis, characterization methods, and their catalytic applications. Particularly, we highlight their unique electrochemical characteristics toward HER. Finally, the current key challenges in SACs for HER are pointed out and some potential directions are proposed as well.


Highlights:


1 All the important single-atom catalysts (SACs) synthetic strategies, such as wet-chemistry method, atomic layer deposition, metal–organic framework-derived method, electrodeposition, high-temperature atom trapping from bulk particles, and vacancies/defects immobilized strategy, have been summarized and discussed in detail.
2 Various metal-based (especially Pt, Pd, Ru, Fe, Co, Ni, Mo, W, V) SACs in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) have been systematically reviewed.
3 The current key challenges in SACs for electrochemical HER are pointed out, and some potential strategies/perspectives are proposed.

Keywords

Single-atom catalysts Nanomaterials Electrocatalyst Hydrogen evolution reaction Electrochemical energy conversion
Pu, Zonghua, Ibrahim Saana Amiinu, Ruilin Cheng, Pengyan Wang, Chengtian Zhang, Shichun Mu, Weiyue Zhao, Fengmei Su, Gaixia Zhang, Shijun Liao, and Shuhui Sun. 2020. “Single-Atom Catalysts for Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution Reaction: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives”. Nano-Micro Letters 12 (January):21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-019-0349-y.
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