Recent advances in non-precious metal electrocatalysts for pH-universal hydrogen evolution reaction

Hydrogen production by water electrolysis is a compelling technology to produce fuels and chemicals powered by renewable energy. It is highly desirable to develop cost-effective and durable electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This review has summarized recent progress in mechanism understanding of non-precious metal electrocatalysts for pH-universal HER. The general approaches have been demonstrated to overcome the activity/stability limitations of the electrocatalysts for HER in a broad pH range. The perspectives and challenges for the development of pH-universal HER electrocatalysts have also been proposed. This review sheds light on the design and fabrication of high-performance electrocatalysts for versatile HER-related energy technologies.