Functional Carbon-Based Material as an Efficient Water Splitting Catalysts

Water electrolysis occupies an important part in green energy engineering. The two half reaction including hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) can produce hydrogen and oxygen, respectively. Pt and IrO2 as a reference catalysts possess a high activity for H2 and O2 producing, but the expensive price and scarce reserves limit their commercial application. Development of efficient, cheap and sustainable catalysts are essential for future energy conversion. The portable device might satisfy the civil utilization, which requires a lightweight and safe electrode. Carbon materials display a large specific surface area, hierarchical porous structure and controllable chemical composition, and show great value of application in energy field. Rich transition metals are widely used to develop catalysts for water electrolysis. Combining carbon materials with active metals may improve catalytic activity and reduce catalyst costs for hydrogen generator. In this review, the half reaction of water splitting was introduced following the electron transfer process and the related active catalysts, that two categories focusing on metal doping and non-metal doping carbon system were discussed.