Insight into the structural reconstruction of alkaline water oxidation electrocatalysts

Abstract

Oxygen-removal reaction (OER) is an indispensable component of various energy storage and conversion electrocatalytic systems. However, the slow reaction kinetics have forced the development of advanced, efficient, and inexpensive OER electrocatalysts to break through the bottleneck of its application. Recently, structural reconstruction of precatalysts provides a promising avenue to boost the catalytic activity of electrocatalysts. Structural reconstruction implies atomic rearrangement and composition change of the pristine catalytic materials, which is a very complex process. Therefore, it is very crucial to have a deep understanding of the reconstruction chemical process and then modulate the reconstruction by deliberate design of electrochemical conditions and precatalysts. However, a systematical review of understanding the structural reconstruction process, research methods, influence factors and structure-performance relationship remains elusive, significantly impeding the further developments of efficient electrocatalysts based on structural reconstruction chemistry. This critical review is dedicated to providing a deep insight into the structural reconstruction during alkaline water oxidation, which summarizes comprehensively the basic research methods to understand the structural evolution process, various factors affecting the structural reconstruction process, which provides reference and basis for regulating the dynamic reconstruction. Moreover, the impact of reconstruction on the structure and performance is also covered. Finally, challenges and perspectives for the future study on structural reconstruction are discussed. This review will offer future guidelines for rational development of state-of-the-art OER electrocatalysts.