Kousar Naseem, Patil Gouthami, Kumbara Ashwini Chikkabasur, Nisty Basavesh, G H Rajesh, Sannegowda Lokesh Koodlur
Department of Studies in Chemistry, Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Jnanasagara Campus, Vinayakanagara, Ballari-583105, Karnataka, India.
Dalton Trans. 2025 Aug 26;54(34):12714-12736. doi: 10.1039/d5dt01438g.
Advancements in water splitting technologies are crucial for achieving sustainable hydrogen production. Development of highly efficient and economically viable catalysts is essential for commercialization of water electrolysers. While precious metals like platinum and iridium are renowned for their catalytic capabilities in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), their high cost and scarcity present significant challenges. Hence, various metal oxides, carbides, sulfides, phosphides, alloys, metal complexes, and composites have been examined as potential catalysts for water splitting reactions. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of Earth-abundant metal complexes as promising alternatives for water splitting catalysis. The fundamental principles underlying water splitting, including electrochemical dynamics, thermodynamics, and reaction kinetics, and their impact on catalytic performance have been evaluated. Emphasis is placed on the pivotal role of Earth-abundant metals such as manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, and molybdenum and their recent innovations in catalyst design focussing on composites for enhancing the HER, OER, and integrated dual-function catalysis are discussed. Comparative evaluation related to advantages and limitations of these alternatives with respect to precious catalysts in terms of cost, availability, and environmental impact is presented. To integrate the same catalyst for HER and OER activities, insights into strategies for optimization of the performance are provided. Additionally, the review highlights the contributions of computational chemistry, including density functional theory studies in engineering catalyst design and understanding reaction mechanisms. Finally, an assessment of current challenges and future directions is presented to provide a holistic perspective on the transformative potential of Earth-abundant metal complexes in advancing sustainable water splitting technologies.
水分解技术的进步对于实现可持续制氢至关重要。开发高效且经济可行的催化剂对于水电解槽的商业化至关重要。虽然铂和铱等贵金属因其在析氢反应（HER）和析氧反应（OER）中的催化能力而闻名，但其高成本和稀缺性带来了重大挑战。因此，各种金属氧化物、碳化物、硫化物、磷化物、合金、金属配合物和复合材料已被研究作为水分解反应的潜在催化剂。本综述对储量丰富的金属配合物作为水分解催化的有前景替代品进行了全面分析。评估了水分解的基本原理，包括电化学动力学、热力学和反应动力学及其对催化性能的影响。重点关注储量丰富的金属如锰、铁、钴、镍和钼的关键作用，并讨论了它们在催化剂设计方面的最新创新，重点是用于增强HER、OER和集成双功能催化的复合材料。介绍了这些替代品在成本、可用性和环境影响方面相对于贵金属催化剂的优缺点的比较评估。为了将相同的催化剂用于HER和OER活性，提供了性能优化策略的见解。此外，该综述强调了计算化学的贡献，包括密度泛函理论研究在工程催化剂设计和理解反应机制方面的作用。最后，对当前挑战和未来方向进行了评估，以全面了解储量丰富的金属配合物在推进可持续水分解技术方面的变革潜力。
