Electronic Structure of Ni‐Based Reconstructed Surface for Electrocatalytic Alkaline Oxygen Evolution Reaction

The sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline water electrolysis lead to high overpotentials, limiting cost-effective green hydrogen production. Ni-based catalysts, recognized as promising OER electrocatalysts, require electronic structure modulation to enhance performance. However, under oxidizing conditions, Ni-based materials undergo surface reconstruction with significant electronic alterations, rendering bulk-phase studies less practical. Recent efforts focus on regulating reconstructed surface electronic structures for improved efficiency, underscoring the need for a systematic review on this critical topic. This review highlights the fundamental progress regarding the electronic structure regulation of reconstructed surface of Ni-based OER electrocatalysts for better understanding the surface reconstruction process and the structure-activity relationship, including the basic understanding of OER mechanism and surface reconstruction of Ni-based materials, the principles and practical applications of key electronic structure descriptors with their respective advantages and limitations, and recent advancements and developing bottle-necks in surface reconstruction chemistry across diverse Ni-based OER catalyst systems. Finally, the challenges facing surface reconstruction of Ni-based OER catalysts are summarized, and several future prospects are proposed to guide the in-depth analysis of the reconstruction mechanism and the rational design of Ni-based OER catalysts.