Electrocatalytic Water Splitting: From Harsh and Mild Conditions to Natural Seawater

Abstract

Electrocatalytic water splitting is regarded as the most effective pathway to generate green energy-hydrogen-which is considered as one of the most promising clean energy solutions to the world's energy crisis and climate change mitigation. Although electrocatalytic water splitting has been proposed for decades, large-scale industrial hydrogen production is hindered by high electricity cost, capital investment, and electrolysis media. Harsh conditions (strong acid/alkaline) are widely used in electrocatalytic mechanism studies, and excellent catalytic activities and efficiencies have been achieved. However, the practical application of electrocatalytic water splitting in harsh conditions encounters several obstacles, such as corrosion issues, catalyst stability, and membrane technical difficulties. Thus, the research on water splitting in mild conditions (neutral/near neutral), even in natural seawater, has aroused increasing attention. However, the mechanism in mild conditions or natural seawater is not clear. Herein, different conditions in electrocatalytic water splitting are reviewed and the effects and proposed mechanisms in the three conditions are summarized. Then, a comparison of the reaction process and the effects of the ions in different electrolytes are presented. Finally, the challenges and opportunities associated with direct electrocatalytic natural seawater splitting and the perspective are presented to promote the progress of hydrogen production by water splitting.

Keywords: electrocatalysis; electrolytes; harsh conditions; mild conditions; natural seawater; water splitting.