Cited by 3,133Electrocatalysts for Energy ConversionCO2 Reduction Techniques and CatalystsHydrogen Storage and Materials

Recent Advances in Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Using Nanoparticles

Open access
Zhu, Jing, Hu, Liangsheng, Zhao, Pengxiang, Lee, Lawrence Yoon Suk, Wong, Kwok-Yin·2020·Chemical Reviews

Abstract

Hydrogen fuel is considered as the cleanest renewable resource and the primary alternative to fossil fuels for future energy supply. Sustainable hydrogen generation is the major prerequisite to realize future hydrogen economy. The electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), as the vital step of water electrolysis to H 2 production, has been the subject of extensive study over the past decades. In this comprehensive review, we first summarize the fundamentals of HER and review the recent state-of-the-art advances in the low-cost and high-performance catalysts based on noble and non-noble metals, as well as metal-free HER electrocatalysts. We systemically discuss the insights into the relationship among the catalytic activity, morphology, structure, composition, and synthetic method. Strategies for developing an effective catalyst, including increasing the intrinsic activity of active sites and/or increasing the number of active sites, are summarized and highlighted. Finally, the challenges, perspectives, and research directions of HER electrocatalysis are featured.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00248

Cites

649 of 649 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Noble-metal catalysts currently give the best electrocatalytic water splitting performance at low operating voltage.

    “Currently, noble metal-based catalysts show the best performance for electrocatalytic water splitting with a low operating voltage.”

    From Bimetallic Ni–Co selenide heterostructure aerogel for highly efficient overall water splitting (2023) · cites this paper as [3]

    The section on supporting materials identifies platinum-group metals as the most effective catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction, citing their low overpotentials. The Conclusion and Perspective distinguishes that reaction from oxygen evolution, which also determines water-splitting efficiency. The cited evidence therefore supports the claim for hydrogen evolution, but not the broader claim that noble-metal catalysts give the best performance or low operating voltage for overall water splitting; page numbers were unavailable. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Efficient HER catalysts need moderate H* adsorption/desorption, while efficient OER catalysts need balanced O* binding between OH* and OOH*.

    “Basically, high performance electrocatalysts for the HER require moderate adsorption/desorption properties with H*, while high performance electrocatalysts for the OER need balanced binding energy of O* between OH* and OOH*.3,13”

    From Bimetallic Ni–Co selenide heterostructure aerogel for highly efficient overall water splitting (2023) · cites this paper as [3]

    Section 3.6, “Hydrogen bonding energy” (page unavailable), says an ideal HER catalyst binds hydrogen neither too weakly nor too strongly, supporting the H* part. The Conclusion and Perspective mentions the importance of OER catalysts but does not describe balanced O* binding between OH* and OOH*; searches for those intermediates found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Both HER and OER must be obtained at considerably high overpotentials to achieve overall water splitting.

    “However, both”

    From Phosphorus doped nickel-molybdenum aerogel for efficient overall water splitting (2021) · cites this paper as [5]

    The Introduction (page not provided) says water splitting involves both HER and OER and that catalysts are needed to minimize their overpotentials. Section 3.1 (page not provided) explains that practical HER requires extra applied potential to overcome kinetic barriers. The paper does not establish that both reactions must occur at considerably high overpotentials; that wording overstates the source. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The high cost and limited reserves of noble metals prevent their large-scale use.

    “However, high cost and low reserves dramatically prevent their large-scale application.3,4”
  • The B-Os aerogels have a greater intrinsic capacity for electrocatalytic hydrogen production than Os NPs and Pt/C.

    “suggesting a greater intrinsic capacity for electrocatalytic hydrogen production (Supplementary Fig. 17)55.”

    From Interstitial boron-triggered electron-deficient Os aerogels for enhanced pH-universal hydrogen evolution (2022) · cites this paper as [55]

    The review discusses CoP aerogels and, separately, compares Mo₂B₄ with Pt/C (Conclusion and Perspective; page unavailable). Searches for B-Os aerogels, Os nanoparticles, and osmium found no passage assessing B-Os against Os NPs or Pt/C, so our copy does not verify the claimed intrinsic capacity. (LLM, conf=0.72)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

1 retracted

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 650 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 9

  1. van Troostwijk A. P., 1789, Obs. Phys.
  2. 10.1126/science.1249061 · DOI · Paper page
  3. 10.1002/cssc.201601081 · DOI
  4. 10.1039/c6nr04572c · DOI
  5. 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b04430 · DOI · Paper page
  6. 10.1126/science.1141483 · DOI · Paper page
  7. 10.1016/j.nanoen.2017.03.024 · DOI · Paper page
  8. 10.1021/acsnano.5b02420 · DOI
  9. 10.1002/aenm.201700513 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Zhu, J., Hu, L., Zhao, P., Lee, L. Y. S., & Wong, K.-Y.
Affiliations
  • China Academy of Engineering Physics (CN)
  • Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK)
Corresponding author
  • Hu, Liangsheng
  • Zhao, Pengxiang
  • Wong, Kwok-Yin
Venue
Chemical Reviews
Published
2019-10-28
Volume
120
Issue
2
Pages
851-918
ISSN
  • 0009-2665 (ISSN-L)
  • 1520-6890
OpenAlex
W2982516344
Cited by
3,133
References
650
Citations by year
2026: 345 · 2025: 522 · 2024: 614 · 2023: 590 · 2022: 547 · 2021: 370 · 2020: 145
FWCI
10.33
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Chemical Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PolyU Institutional Research Archive (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Department of Science and Technology of Sichuan Province (2018JY0287)
  • Innovation and Technology Commission
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (21806099, 21806151)
  • Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • STU Scientific Research Foundation for Talents (NTF18009)
  • Discipline Development Foundation of Science and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory (XKFZ201505)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Hydrogen Storage and Materials
Keywords
electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution, hydrogen production, water electrolysis, nanoparticles, noble metal catalysts, non-noble metal catalysts, metal-free catalysts, active site, catalyst morphology, catalyst composition, catalyst preparation, hydrogen economy

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review