Electrochemical Water Splitting for Scale Hydrogen Production: From the Laboratory to Industrial Applications

Abstract

Hydrogen energy is an important carrier for global energy transformation and development due to its advantages of rich sources, green and carbon‐free, and wide application. The generation of clean hydrogen can be achieved through electrochemical water splitting driven by renewable energy, which has gained wide attention, but its large‐scale industrial application still faces challenges. This review summarizes the research status and bottleneck of industrial hydrogen production via electrolysis in developing electrocatalysts and optimizing electrolytic systems. It highlights that the deviation of electrocatalysts developed in the laboratory and their industrial application in the working environment and evaluation indicators should be corrected. With the aim to achieve low‐cost and sustainability in the production of high‐performance electrocatalysts, it is necessary to combine the material recycling from solid waste with the recyclable design of electrocatalysts. In addition, the future design of hybrid water electrolysis with low energy consumption and the ecological cycle issues that should be addressed in the industrial water electrolysis system are discussed.