Transition metal carbides in electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is admitted to an important half reaction in water splitting for sustainable hydrogen production. The sluggish four-electron process is known to be the bottleneck for enhancing the efficiency of OER. In this regard, tremendous efforts have been devoted to developing effective catalysts for OER. In addition to Ir- or Ru-based oxides taken as the benchmark, transition metal carbides have attracted ever-increasing interest due to the high activity and stability as low-cost OER electrocatalysts. In this review, the transition metal carbides for water oxidation electrocatalysis concerning design strategies and synthesis are briefly summarized. Some typical applications for various carbides are also highlighted. Besides, the development trends and outlook are also discussed.