Zhang Ling, National Key Laboratory of Special Power Supplies, National-Municipal Joint Engineering Laboratory for Chemical Process Intensification and Reaction, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Shazhengjie 174, Chongqing 400044, China.
Wangyang Wu, National Key Laboratory of Special Power Supplies, National-Municipal Joint Engineering Laboratory for Chemical Process Intensification and Reaction, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Shazhengjie 174, Chongqing 400044, China.
Qiuyue Hu, National Key Laboratory of Special Power Supplies, National-Municipal Joint Engineering Laboratory for Chemical Process Intensification and Reaction, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Shazhengjie 174, Chongqing 400044, China.
Shidan Yang, National Key Laboratory of Special Power Supplies, National-Municipal Joint Engineering Laboratory for Chemical Process Intensification and Reaction, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Shazhengjie 174, Chongqing 400044, China.
Li Li, National Key Laboratory of Special Power Supplies, National-Municipal Joint Engineering Laboratory for Chemical Process Intensification and Reaction, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Shazhengjie 174, Chongqing 400044, China.Follow
Ruijin Liao, The State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment & System Security and New Technology, School of Electrical Engineering, Chongqing University, Shazhengjie 174, Chongqing 400044, China.
Zidong Wei, National Key Laboratory of Special Power Supplies, National-Municipal Joint Engineering Laboratory for Chemical Process Intensification and Reaction, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Shazhengjie 174, Chongqing 400044, China.Follow

Document Type

Review

Corresponding Author(s)

Li Li(liliracial@cqu.edu.cn);
Zidong Wei(zdwei@cqu.edu.cn)

Abstract

The unavailability of high-performance and cost-effective electrocatalysts impeded the large-scale deployment of alkaline water electrolyzers. Professor Zidong Wei's group has focused on resolving critical challenges in industrial alkaline electrolysis, particularly elucidating hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction (HER/OER) mechanisms while addressing the persistent activity-stability trade-off. This review summarizes their decade-long progress in developing advanced electrodes, analyzing the origins of sluggish alkaline HER kinetics and OER stability limitations. Professor Wei proposes a unifying "12345 Principle" as an optimization framework. For HER electrocatalysts, they identified that metal/metal oxide interfaces create synergistic "chimney effects" and "local electric field enhancement effect", enhancing selective intermediate adsorption, interfacial water enrichment/reorientation, and mass transport under industrial high-polarization conditions. Regarding OER, innovative strategies, including dual-ligand synergistic modulation, lattice oxygen suppression, and self-repairing surface construction, are demonstrated to balance oxygen species adsorption, optimize spin states, and dynamically reinforce metal-oxygen bonds for concurrent activity-stability enhancement. The review concludes by addressing remaining challenges in long-term industrial durability and suggesting future research priorities.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Alkaline Water Splitting, HER, OER, Intrinsic Activity, Stability

Online Date

9-1-2025

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