Cui Liang, Zhang Wenxiu, Zheng Rongkun, Liu Jingquan
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Linyi University, Linyi, 276400, Shandong, P. R. China.
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for Graphene Applied Technology Innovation, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Marine Biomass Fibers, Materials and Textiles of Shandong Province, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, P. R. China.
Chemistry. 2020 Sep 10;26(51):11661-11672. doi: 10.1002/chem.202000880. Epub 2020 Jul 10.
Electrochemical water splitting is a clean and sustainable process for hydrogen production on a large scale as the electrical power required can be obtained from various renewable energy resources. The key challenge in electrochemical water splitting process is to develop low-cost electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on the cathode and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on the anode. OER is the most important half-reaction involved in water splitting, which has been extensively studied since the last century and a large amount of electrocatalysts including noble and non-noble metal-based materials have been developed. Among them, transition metal borides and borates (TMBs)-based compounds with various structures have attracted increasing attention owing to their excellent OER performance. In recent years, many efforts have been devoted to exploring the OER mechanism of TMBs and to improving the OER activity and stability of TMBs. In this review, recent research progress made in TMBs as efficient electrocatalysts for OER is summarized. The chemical properties, synthetic methodologies, catalytic performance evaluation, and improvement strategy of TMBs as OER electrocatalysts are discussed. The electrochemistry fundamentals of OER are first introduced in brief, followed by a summary of the preparation and performance of TMBs-based OER electrocatalysts. Finally, current challenges and future directions for TMBs-based OER electrocatalysts are discussed.
电化学水分解是一种大规模制氢的清洁且可持续的过程，因为所需的电能可从各种可再生能源中获取。电化学水分解过程中的关键挑战是开发低成本的电催化剂，使其对阴极的析氢反应（HER）和阳极的析氧反应（OER）具有高催化活性。OER是水分解中最重要的半反应，自上世纪以来就受到了广泛研究，并且已经开发出大量包括贵金属和非贵金属基材料在内的电催化剂。其中，具有各种结构的过渡金属硼化物和硼酸盐（TMBs）基化合物因其优异的OER性能而受到越来越多的关注。近年来，人们致力于探索TMBs的OER机理，并提高TMBs的OER活性和稳定性。在这篇综述中，总结了TMBs作为高效OER电催化剂的最新研究进展。讨论了TMBs作为OER电催化剂的化学性质、合成方法、催化性能评估和改进策略。首先简要介绍OER的电化学基本原理，然后总结基于TMBs的OER电催化剂的制备和性能。最后，讨论了基于TMBs的OER电催化剂当前面临的挑战和未来发展方向。
