Rational Design of Nanoarray Architectures for Electrocatalytic Water Splitting

Electrochemical water splitting is recognized as a practical strategy for impelling the transformation of sustainable energy sources such as solar energy from electricity to clean hydrogen fuel. To actualize the large-scale hydrogen production, it is paramount to develop low-cost, earth-abundant, efficient, and stable electrocatalysts. Among those electrocatalysts, alternative architectural arrays grown on conductive substrates have been proven to be highly efficient toward water splitting due to large surface area, abundant active sites, and synergistic effects between the electrocatalysts and the substrates. Herein, the advancement of nanoarray architectures in electrocatalytic applications is reviewed. The categories of different nanoarrays and the reliable and versatile synthetic approaches of electrocatalysts are summarized. A unique emphasis is highlighted on the promising strategies to enhance the electrocatalytic activities and stability of architectural arrays by component manipulation, heterostructure regulation, and vacancy engineering. The intrinsic mechanism analysis of electronic structure optimization, intermediates' adsorption facilitation, and coordination environments' amelioration is also discussed with regard to theoretical simulation and in situ identification. Finally, the challenges and opportunities on the valuable directions and promising pathways of architectural arrays toward outstanding electrocatalytic performance are provided in the energy conversion field, facilitating the development of promising water splitting systems.