Overcoming Stability Hurdles of Transition Metal Phosphides for H2 Evolution: A Review.

Abstract

The necessity of efficient electrolyzers for H₂ production has boosted the number of publications on the development of highly active and stable electrocatalysts. Recently, transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have been reported as excellent materials for H₂ electrochemical production. Though most publications demonstrate the applicability of Co, Mo, Fe, and Ni-based TMPs in a wide pH range, there's a lack of consolidated information about the material's durability versus pH, especially in harsh environments (e.g., high acidity or alkalinity and seawater). The main purpose of this review is to correlate the advancement of knowledge about the TMPs electronic and physical-chemical properties and the improvement of hydrogen evolution reaction in a wide range of pH and salinity to present some meaningful perspectives for the near future development.