Recent Progress in Cobalt‐Based Heterogeneous Catalysts for Electrochemical Water Splitting

TLDR

Water electrolysis is a promising hydrogen production method, and research has focused on developing efficient non‑noble‑metal cobalt electrocatalysts for HER and OER to reduce overpotential and energy costs. This review summarizes recent advances in cobalt‑based bifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting and outlines current challenges and future directions. The review discusses multiple strategies to enhance cobalt electrocatalyst performance.

Abstract

Water electrolysis is considered as the most promising technology for hydrogen production. Much research has been devoted to developing efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen production via the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen production via the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The optimum electrocatalysts can drive down the energy costs needed for water splitting via lowering the overpotential. A number of cobalt (Co)‐based materials have been developed over past years as non‐noble‐metal heterogeneous electrocatalysts for HER and OER. Recent progress in this field is summarized here, especially highlighting several important bifunctional catalysts. Various approaches to improve or optimize the electrocatalysts are introduced. Finally, the current existing challenges and the future working directions for enhancing the performance of Co‐implicated electrocatalysts are proposed.