Challenges and Opportunities for the Emerging Iridium Center on Transition Metal Oxide for PEM Water Electrolysis

ABSTRACT The development of highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for advancing proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) for sustainable hydrogen production. Recently, Iridium centers on transition metal oxides (TMOs) have emerged as promising alternatives to conventional noble metal oxides, demonstrating superior activity, stability, and cost‐effectiveness. This review systematically summarizes these advancements by elucidating the intrinsic mechanisms and dynamic evolution patterns of Ir active centers under acidic OER conditions, discussing core strategies for enhancing catalytic performance, and attention is mainly directed to the industrial application requirements by evaluating breakthrough solutions for key technical challenges, including long‐term stability under high‐current‐density operation and Ir dissolution suppression. Finally, from the perspective of rational design, the review outlines current challenges and prospects for oxide‐supported Ir catalysts, emphasizing the urgent need for advanced operando characterization techniques and scalable fabrication processes. By integrating fundamental research with practical applications, this review aims to provide theoretical guidance and technical references for developing next‐generation OER catalysts suitable for large‐scale PEMWE implementation.