How to minimise destabilising effect of gas bubbles on water splitting electrocatalysts

Summary Development of efficient electrocatalytic gas-evolving electrodes is one of the essential prerequisites for the deployment of hydrogen-based electrochemical energy conversion and storage. Gas bubbles generated by electrolysis at electrocatalytic interfaces manifest into undesirable increase in overpotential that simultaneously compromises stability of the electrocatalytic materials. A key research question is how to use theory and advanced experimental tools to holistically understand the mechanism of gas-evolution phenomena and finally arrive at principles of electrode design that will assure facile gas evolution. The analysis given in this work offers an optimistic framework how to significantly reduce overpotential and enhance electrode stability during water electrolysis.