Chalcogenide and Phosphide Solid-State Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Generation

Electrocatalytic water splitting to produce H-2 and O-2 by means of efficient, robust, and low-cost catalysts represents a promising approach for clean H-2 production. Recent years have witnessed the rise of transition-metal chalcogenides and phosphides as competent H-2-evolution electrocatalysts, the activities of which rapidly approach those of platinum-group benchmarks. This Minireview highlights several representative catalytic systems of chalcogenides and phosphides for electrocatalytic H-2 generation and emphasizes in particular the electronic and structural optimization to improve their catalytic performance. The most recent trend in developing bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting is also summarized. Finally, the remaining challenges, emerging opportunities, and future advancement of inexpensive electrocatalysts for H-2 generation are further discussed.