Abstract
Hydrogen-centered electrochemical technologies play a vital role in sustainable energy conversion and storage. One of the challenges in achieving cheap hydrogen is to bridge the gap between advanced electrocatalysts and highly effective electrodes. The key lies in designing electrocatalysts with high intrinsic activity and understanding the structure-activity relationship in water electrolysis. Being proposed as promising electrocatalysts, bulk oxides, with their compositional and crystal structure flexibility, provide a good platform for studying the correlation between intrinsic activity and electronic structure and also for screening superior catalysts for water electrolysis. In this review, we discuss the recent developments of oxide electrocatalysts in understanding the structure-activity relationship. Firstly, we present a thorough overview of recent advances from both theoretical and experimental aspects. Subsequently, we highlight the design principles to provide guidance for promoting performance. Finally, the remaining challenges and perspectives about this field are presented. This review aims to provide guidance for the design of highly advanced oxide electrocatalysts for water electrolysis and large-scale green energy supply.