电催化产氢:从原理到应用

Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution:From principle to application

全球人口增长及对能源需求的不断增大使能源安全问题日益严峻,开发可持续的非化石燃料能源是解决问题的有效途径.氢能具有无二氧化碳排放、能量密度高等特点,因此氢气被认为是理想的能源载体.在能量转换过程中,氢气可经由电能从再生能源中产生,以化学键的形式储存能量,亦可在需要时通过燃料电池或其他设备转换回电能并输送给终端.因此,探究高效的氢气制造方法和转换途径是实现氢能应用的重中之重.在氢气的制造策略中,电催化途径因具有快速、高效、高选择性和高性价比等特点成为目前高效制氢的最优选方案之一.自1833年Faraday首先提出电解水的概念,到19世纪20~30年代陆续出现不同种类的电解池装置,再至目前已发展的多种电催化制氢及耦合反应的设计,电解水制氢技术已取得了很大进步.本文从电催化制氢的基本原理、性能评价方法、电催化剂种类及电池结构对电催化制氢进行了总结,并评述了电催化制氢的最新研究进展,指出了目前研究中存在的问题及可能的解决方案.

With the increasing global population and increasing energy demands,major concerns have been raised over the security of our energy further.Developing sustainable,fossil-free pathways to produce fuels and chemicals could be an effective strategy.The characteristics of no carbon dioxide emission and high energy density make hydrogen an ideal energy carrier.In the energy conversion process,hydrogen can be generated from renewable energy through the electrocatalytic process and store energy in chemical bonds.It can also be converted back to electronic energy when needed through fuel cells and other equipment.Therefore,exploring efficient hydrogen production methods and conversion pathways is the top priority to realize the application of hydrogen energy.In the hydrogen production strategy,the electrocatalytic pathway has become one of the best solutions for efficient hydrogen production,attributing to its fast,efficient,and high selectivity,and low-cost performance.Since Faraday first defined the concept of electrolyzed water in 1833,different types of electrolytic cell devices appeared in the 1920 s and 1930 s.A variety of designs for electrocatalytic hydrogen production and coupling reactions have been developed,and great progress has been made in the technology of hydrogen production by electrolysis.This review focuses on the basic principles of electrocatalytic hydrogen production,performance evaluation methods,electrocatalyst types,and electrolyzer structure.Except for the summaries on the latest research progress of electrocatalytic hydrogen production,the existing problems in the current research and possible solutions have also been prospected.