Interfacial Effects on the Catalytic Performance of Water-Splitting Electrocatalysts

Electrochemical water splitting is a core component of clean and renewable energy technologies. Developing low-cost, highly active electrocatalysts is critical to enabling its large-scale deployment. Interfacial effects, which govern charge-transfer kinetics and the adsorption of reaction intermediates, play a decisive role in enhancing the activity and stability of water-splitting electrocatalysts. To clarify how interfacial effects regulate catalytic performance, this review summarizes the fundamental principles of interface engineering and recent advances in water-splitting electrocatalysis. In particular, it focuses on how interfacial structures tune the electronic structure of active sites and the adsorption behavior of intermediates through lattice strain, interfacial charge redistribution, and orbital hybridization. These mechanisms collectively enhance the performance of the hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction. Finally, the review discusses the core challenges facing interface-engineered electrocatalysts for practical water electrolysis and outlines future research directions.