IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i13p5078-d1184032.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Water Splitting as an Alternative for Electrochemical Hydrogen and Oxygen Generation: Current Status, Trends, and Challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Nihat Ege Sahin

    (Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Aarhus University, Abogade 40, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark)

  • W. J. Pech-Rodríguez

    (Department of Mechatronics, Polytechnic University of Victoria, Ciudad Victoria 87138, Mexico)

  • P. C. Meléndez-González

    (Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL), San Nicolás de los Garza 66455, Mexico)

  • Juan Lopez Hernández

    (Department of Engineering Master Program, Polytechnic University of Victoria, Ciudad Victoria 87138, Mexico)

  • E. Rocha-Rangel

    (Department of Engineering Master Program, Polytechnic University of Victoria, Ciudad Victoria 87138, Mexico)

Abstract

Water splitting technology is an innovative strategy to face the dependency on fossil fuels and, at the same time, address environmental pollution issues. Electrocatalysts seem to be the better option to improve water separation efficiency and satisfy the commercial-scale demand for hydrogen. Therefore, the design and fabrication of heterostructures with a high affinity for achieving water splitting have been proposed. In this review, the application of several electrocatalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions is presented and discussed in detail. A review of the recent advances in water separation using noble metals such as Pt-, Ir-, and Ru-based electrodes is presented, followed by a highlighting of the current trends in noble-metal-free electrocatalysts and novel preparation methods. Furthermore, it contemplates some results of a hybrid organic molecule–water electrolysis and photoelectrochemical water splitting. This review intends to give insight into the main trends in water splitting and the barriers that need to be overcome to further boost the efficiency of the main hydrogen and oxygen generation systems that ultimately result in large-scale applications. Finally, future challenges and perspectives are addressed, considering all the novelties and the proposed pathways for water splitting.

Suggested Citation

  • Nihat Ege Sahin & W. J. Pech-Rodríguez & P. C. Meléndez-González & Juan Lopez Hernández & E. Rocha-Rangel, 2023. "Water Splitting as an Alternative for Electrochemical Hydrogen and Oxygen Generation: Current Status, Trends, and Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-25, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:13:p:5078-:d:1184032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/13/5078/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/13/5078/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Danish, & Ulucak, Recep & Baloch, Muhammad Awais, 2023. "An empirical approach to the nexus between natural resources and environmental pollution: Do economic policy and environmental-related technologies make any difference?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Yichao Lin & Ziqi Tian & Linjuan Zhang & Jingyuan Ma & Zheng Jiang & Benjamin J. Deibert & Ruixiang Ge & Liang Chen, 2019. "Chromium-ruthenium oxide solid solution electrocatalyst for highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction in acidic media," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Daming Zhao & Yiqing Wang & Chung-Li Dong & Yu-Cheng Huang & Jie Chen & Fei Xue & Shaohua Shen & Liejin Guo, 2021. "Boron-doped nitrogen-deficient carbon nitride-based Z-scheme heterostructures for photocatalytic overall water splitting," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(4), pages 388-397, April.
    4. Santanu Kumar Dash & Suprava Chakraborty & Devaraj Elangovan, 2023. "A Brief Review of Hydrogen Production Methods and Their Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-17, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jinshui Cheng & Linxiao Wu & Jingshan Luo, 2023. "Improving the photovoltage of Cu2O photocathodes with dual buffer layers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Wu, Guoyong & Gao, Yue & Feng, Yanchao, 2023. "Assessing the environmental effects of the supporting policies for mineral resource-exhausted cities in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    3. Kun Du & Lifu Zhang & Jieqiong Shan & Jiaxin Guo & Jing Mao & Chueh-Cheng Yang & Chia-Hsin Wang & Zhenpeng Hu & Tao Ling, 2022. "Interface engineering breaks both stability and activity limits of RuO2 for sustainable water oxidation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Wang, Zhe & Teng, Yin-Pei & Wu, Shuzhao & Liu, Yuxiang & Liu, Xianchang, 2023. "Geopolitical risk, financial system and natural resources extraction: Evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Yanrong Xue & Jiwu Zhao & Liang Huang & Ying-Rui Lu & Abdul Malek & Ge Gao & Zhongbin Zhuang & Dingsheng Wang & Cafer T. Yavuz & Xu Lu, 2023. "Stabilizing ruthenium dioxide with cation-anchored sulfate for durable oxygen evolution in proton-exchange membrane water electrolyzers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Davide Clematis & Daria Bellotti & Massimo Rivarolo & Loredana Magistri & Antonio Barbucci, 2023. "Hydrogen Carriers: Scientific Limits and Challenges for the Supply Chain, and Key Factors for Techno-Economic Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-31, August.
    7. Artur Pawłowski & Agnieszka Żelazna & Jarosław Żak, 2023. "Is the Polish Solar-to-Hydrogen Pathway Green? A Carbon Footprint of AEM Electrolysis Hydrogen Based on an LCA," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-15, April.
    8. Liu, Bailu & Tian, Jilin, 2023. "Natural resources led innovation: Employing structural break approach to explore USA's natural resources sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    9. Huanyu Jin & Xinyan Liu & Pengfei An & Cheng Tang & Huimin Yu & Qinghua Zhang & Hong-Jie Peng & Lin Gu & Yao Zheng & Taeseup Song & Kenneth Davey & Ungyu Paik & Juncai Dong & Shi-Zhang Qiao, 2023. "Dynamic rhenium dopant boosts ruthenium oxide for durable oxygen evolution," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Xinyu Ping & Yongduo Liu & Lixia Zheng & Yang Song & Lin Guo & Siguo Chen & Zidong Wei, 2024. "Locking the lattice oxygen in RuO2 to stabilize highly active Ru sites in acidic water oxidation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    11. Dong, Yangzi & Wong, Wing-Keung & Muda, Iskandar & Cong, Phan The & Duong Hoang, Anh & Ghardallou, Wafa & Ha, Ngo Ngan, 2023. "Do natural resources utilization and economic development reduce greenhouse gas emissions through consuming renewable and Clean Technology? A case study of China towards sustainable development goals," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    12. Lu Wang & Zhijun Jin & Xiao Chen & Yutong Su & Xiaowei Huang, 2023. "The Origin and Occurrence of Natural Hydrogen," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-18, March.
    13. Liu, Xia, 2023. "Tourism development, environmental regulations, and natural resource management: Evidence from G20 countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).
    14. Evgeny Solomin & Zaid Salah & Konstantin Osintsev & Sergei Aliukov & Sulpan Kuskarbekova & Vladimir Konchakov & Alyona Olinichenko & Alexander Karelin & Tatyana Tarasova, 2023. "Ecological Hydrogen Production and Water Sterilization: An Innovative Approach to the Trigeneration of Renewable Energy Sources for Water Desalination: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-32, August.
    15. Yang, Shubo & Jahanger, Atif & Hossain, Mohammad Razib, 2023. "Does China's low-carbon city pilot intervention limit electricity consumption? An analysis of industrial energy efficiency using time-varying DID model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    16. Sanjiang Pan & Hao Li & Dan Liu & Rui Huang & Xuelei Pan & Dan Ren & Jun Li & Mohsen Shakouri & Qixing Zhang & Manjing Wang & Changchun Wei & Liqiang Mai & Bo Zhang & Ying Zhao & Zhenbin Wang & Michae, 2022. "Efficient and stable noble-metal-free catalyst for acidic water oxidation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    17. Lu, Buchu & Yan, Xiangyu & Liu, Qibin, 2023. "Enhanced solar hydrogen generation with the direct coupling of photo and thermal energy – An experimental and mechanism study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    18. Gang Zhou & Peifang Wang & Bin Hu & Xinyue Shen & Chongchong Liu & Weixiang Tao & Peilin Huang & Lizhe Liu, 2022. "Spin-related symmetry breaking induced by half-disordered hybridization in BixEr2-xRu2O7 pyrochlores for acidic oxygen evolution," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    19. Khan, Muhammad Tufail & Imran, Muhammad, 2023. "Unveiling the Carbon Footprint of Europe and Central Asia: Insights into the Impact of Key Factors on CO2 Emissions," MPRA Paper 116484, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 22 Feb 2023.
    20. Li, Yangyang & Zhang, Tao & Deng, Xintao & Liu, Biao & Ma, Jugang & Yang, Fuyuan & Ouyang, Minggao, 2022. "Active pressure and flow rate control of alkaline water electrolyzer based on wind power prediction and 100% energy utilization in off-grid wind-hydrogen coupling system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:13:p:5078-:d:1184032. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.