Water electrolysis: from textbook knowledge to the latest scientific strategies and industrial developments
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Replacing fossil fuels with energy sources and carriers that are sustainable, environmentally benign, and affordable is amongst the most pressing challenges for future socio-economic development. To that goal, hydrogen is presumed to be the most promising energy carrier. Electrocatalytic water splitting, if driven by green electricity, would provide hydrogen with minimal CO2 footprint. The viability of water electrolysis still hinges on the availability of durable earth-abundant electrocatalyst materials and the overall process efficiency. This review spans from the fundamentals of electrocatalytically initiated water splitting to the very latest scientific findings from university and institutional research, also covering specifications and special features of the current industrial processes and those processes currently being tested in large-scale applications. Recently developed strategies are described for the optimisation and discovery of active and durable materials for electrodes that ever-increasingly harness first-principles calculations and machine learning. In addition, a technoeconomic analysis of water electrolysis is included that allows an assessment of the extent to which a large-scale implementation of water splitting can help to combat climate change. This review article is intended to cross-pollinate and strengthen efforts from fundamental understanding to technical implementation and to improve the ‘junctions’ between the field's physical chemists, materials scientists and engineers, as well as stimulate much-needed exchange among these groups on challenges encountered in the different domains.
Date Issued
2022-06-07
Date Acceptance
2022-05-16
Citation
Chemical Society Reviews, 2022, 51 (11), pp.4583-4762
ISSN
0306-0012
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
Start Page
4583
End Page
4762
Journal / Book Title
Chemical Society Reviews
Volume
51
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000807747800001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Chemistry
OXYGEN-EVOLUTION REACTION
ANION-EXCHANGE-MEMBRANES
ELECTROCATALYTIC HYDROGEN EVOLUTION
STAINLESS-STEEL MESH
DOPED TIN OXIDE
METAL-FREE ELECTROCATALYSTS
EFFICIENT BIFUNCTIONAL ELECTROCATALYST
CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION
CARBON-BLACK ANODES
POLY(ETHER ETHER KETONE)
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-05-16