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Seawater is the most abundant source of molecular hydrogen. Utilizing the hydrogen reserves present in the seawater may inaugurate innovative strategies aimed at advancing sustainable energy and environmental preservation endeavors in the future. Recently, there has been a surge in study in the field addressing the production of hydrogen through the electrochemical seawater splitting. However, the performance and durability of the electrode have limitations due to the fact that there are a few challenges that need to be addressed in order to make the technology suitable for the industrial purpose. The active site blockage caused by chloride ions that are prevalent in seawater and chloride corrosion is the most significant issue; it has a negative impact on both the activity and the durability of the anode component. Addressing this particular issue is of upmost importance in the seawater splitting area. This review concentrates on the newly developed materials and techniques for inhibiting chloride ions by blocking the active sites, simultaneously preventing the chloride corrosion. It is anticipated that the concept will be advantageous for a large audience and will inspire researchers to study on this particular area of concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFCs) stand out for portable electronic devices owing to their ease of handling, abundant fuel availability, and high theoretical open circuit potential. However, the practical application of DFAFCs is hindered by the unsatisfactory performance of electrocatalysts for the sluggish anodic formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR). Palladium (Pd) based nanomaterials have shown promise for FAOR due to their highly selective reaction mechanism, but maintaining high electrocatalytic durability remains challenging. In this study, a novel Pd‐based electrocatalyst (UiO‐Pd‐E) is reported with exceptional durability and activity for FAOR, which can be attributed to the Pd nanoparticles encapsulated within a carbon framework where concurrent chemical alloying of Pd and Zr occurs. Further, the UiO‐Pd‐E demonstrates noteworthy multifunctionality in various electrochemical reactions including electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in addition to the FAOR, highlighting its practical potentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen spillover effect has recently garnered a lot of attention in the field of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reactions. A new avenue for understanding the dynamic behavior of atomic migration in which hydrogen atoms moving on a catalyst surface was opened up by the setup of the word "hydrogen spillover." However, there is currently a dearth of thorough knowledge regarding the hydrogen spillover effect. Currently, the advancement of sophisticated characterization procedures offers progressively useful information to enhance our grasp of the hydrogen spillover effect. The understanding of material fabrication for hydrogen spillover effect has erupted. Considering these factors, we made an effort to review most of the articles published on the hydrogen spillover effect and carefully analyzed the aspect of material fabrication. All of our attention has been directed toward the molecular pathway that leads to improve hydrogen evolution reactions performance. In addition, we have attempted to elucidate the spillover paths through the utilization of DFT calculations. Furthermore, we provide some preliminary research suggestions and highlight the opportunities and obstacles that are still to be confronted in this study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced core@shell structures have emerged as an important strategy for enhancing performance and introducing novel functionalities across diverse scientific and engineering domains, facilitated by synergistic interactions between the core and shell. Particularly, when core@shell electrocatalysts are applied to the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline water splitting, they are promising for improving OER kinetics using economically feasible and readily available compounds, previously overlooked as electrocatalysts. As a representative study to demonstrate the synergistic effect of the core@shell structure on OER performance, we have developed a NiOx@Fe3O4 structure decorated on surface-modified carbon nanotubes. Experimental results exhibit outstanding OER performance, including an overpotential (η10) of 286 mV, a Tafel slope of 32 mV dec−1, and a faradaic efficiency of 97.2% during an 18-hour chronoamperometry test. Remarkably, this performance surpasses that of Fe3O4 catalysts (η10: 1266 mV, Tafel plot slope: 246.2 mV dec−1). Also, computational simulations reveal that the electronic structure modifications in NiOx@Fe3O4 promote electron transfer while significantly reducing the reaction energy barrier for boosting OER performance. This study offers scientific insights into the rational design of core@shell structures for enhanced OER performance, which have remained relatively unexplored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, tremendous effort has been made to enhance the water‐splitting via fabricating eco‐friendly electrocatalyst with increased conductivity, and large number of accessible active sites in lab scale. However, the development of earth abundant efficient electrocatalyst with superior activity for ‐seawater‐splitting remains a great challenge for the researchers. In this regard, self‐supported catalysts are found to be the most promising candidates, they have the features of increased loading, superior adhesion, rapid mass and charge transfer, and easy wettability for large scale hydrogen production via electrochemical seawater splitting. This review investigates different fabrication processes for the self‐supported catalyst, emphasizing their distinct characteristics that contribute to improved activity. Furthermore, we provided a detailed elucidation of the procedure and characteristics of seawater splitting, emphasizing the most recent progress in the creation of self‐supportive catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and bifunctional activity. We have also examined the current barriers and potential prospects for advancing the utilization of self‐supported catalysts in the process of seawater splitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]