Emerging Strategies for Developing High-Performance Perovskite-Based Materials for Electrochemical Water Splitting

Abstract

Electrochemical water splitting is one of the most promising techniques for producing high-purity hydrogen without carbon emissions. To commercialize this attractive technique, designing cost-effective, highly efficient, and stable electrocatalysts is desired. Perovskite oxides have been widely applied in many fields as efficient and low-cost catalysts due to their flexible compositions and structures, offering considerable opportunities and strategies to design desired electrocatalysts. In this Review, we present emerging strategies mainly based on our group’s works about electrochemical water splitting for developing perovskite-based electrocatalysts to enhance the intrinsic and apparent activity of water splitting. The relationship between the composition/structure and the electrochemical activity of these materials is established for the rational design of more practical water-splitting electrocatalysts.

Bifunctional electrochemical properties of La0.8Sr0.2Co0.8M0.2O3−δ(M = Ni, Fe, Mn, and Cu): efficient elemental doping based on a structural and pH-dependent study

“…For the ABO 3 perovskite oxides, an important advantage is their flexibility in 4 composition; namely both the A-and B-sites can systematically vary by using metal cations with different valences or ionic radii. [13][14][15] Substitution of the A-and/or B-site by other elements or doping at these sites is also relatively straightforward and affords numerous degrees of freedom to tailor the physicochemical properties for enhancing the catalytic activity. Owing to the flexibility in composition, extensive research has been studied in a series of derived perovskite oxides among which La 0.8 Sr 0.2 CoO 3 and its doped perovskite oxides have acted as excellent cathode materials in the solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and used as efficient catalysts for metal air batteries.…”

Tuning Reconstruction Level of Precatalysts to Design Advanced Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts

“…Notably, the electrocatalytic activities of many reported compounds based on nonprecious transition metals are even superior to those of noble-metal-based catalysts [ 23 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. To ensure rational designs of precatalysts (catalysts under non-reaction conditions), numerous strategies, such as surface/defect/strain engineering, heteroatom doping, alloying, and the construction of hybrids (e.g., core-shell structure), and nanoparticle-support composites have been widely developed, by which active sites can be precisely modulated [ 1 , 24 , 42 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. In addition, electro-derived surface reconstruction also plays a significant role in determining electrocatalytic activities [ 51 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ].…”

“…The same group later reported an amorphous surface (Co(Fe)OOH phase) of BSCF during the OER process, which explained the initially enhanced activity as determined by cyclic voltammetry and potentiostat measurements [ 70 , 71 ]. These works promoted a further understanding of catalyst surface changes under electrochemical potentials, especially by what are known as in situ/operando techniques [ 50 , 51 , 61 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 ]. It is also important to note that further data from electrochemical experiments revealed that BSCF would lose its superior activity after long-term testing, which is more likely due to the collapse of the crystalline matrix on the surface [ 77 ].…”

Non‐Parallel Photo‐Assisted Electrocatalysis Mechanism of SnS2/NiO Heterojunction for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Reaction

“…Their excellent physicochemical properties and catalytic performance are mainly attributed to the large number of possible substitutions of redox active sites and oxygen vacancies at A, B and O sites. [16] However, it is quite complicated to improve the intrinsic properties of as-prepared catalysts. Thus, utilizing a facile and effective approach to design costeffective, highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts still battles huge challenges.…”