Unveiling the Significance of Working Electrode Substrate in Electrocatalytic Water Splitting for Hydrogen Energy

Abstract

The chemical and physical properties of the used current collector (or catalyst’s support) have a crucial effect on the performance of the electrocatalysts as it acts as a bridge for transferring electrons among the various parts of an electrochemical system. Therefore, the proper selection of the current collector or substrate for drop-casting or coating or in-situ growing of active electrocatalysts and an in-depth understanding of their behaviour under experimental conditions are very crucial. This review summarizes the significance of various working electrode (WE) substrates in terms of their performance towards water electrolysis which consist of anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here in this perspective, various aspects of commonly employed WE substrate (metallic or non-metallic) has been scrutinized in details. The overall discussion consists of following sub division starting from introduction to hydrogen technology followed by kinetics and mechanism of two half-cell reactions in water electrolysis and various chemical and physical factors influence the WE suitability and stability in sustainable green hydrogen technology from water electrolysis. Overall, this report offers a promising avenue to unmask the significance of the substrate choice for advancing electrocatalytic splitting of water one step ahead towards sustainable hydrogen production.