Research progress of catalyst for hydrogen precipitation reaction (HER) in hydrogen production by electrolytic water

With the transformation of the global energy structure to low- carbon, the development of efficient and sustainable clean energy technology has become the key to solve the depletion of fossil energy and environmental problems. Hydrogen production from water electrolysis generates hydrogen and oxygen through the electrochemical decomposition of water molecules, which can convert intermittent renewable energy such as wind and solar energy into a chemical energy carrier with high energy density, and is one of the core technologies to achieve energy storage and carbon neutrality. However, the large-scale application of water electrolysis technology is still limited by the activity, stability and cost of the cathode hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst. In this paper, the reaction mechanism, material system and optimization strategy of HER catalyst were systematically reviewed, focusing on the structure-activity relationship of platinum-based catalyst, transition metal sulfide and metal-carrier composite catalyst, and the differences in their activity were revealed based on the theory of hydrogen adsorption free energy ( ΔGH), in order to provide references for rational design of high-performance catalysts and industrial promotion of water electrolytic technology.