Progress on Electrocatalysts of Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Based on Carbon Fiber Materials

Hydrogen evolution from water electrolysis is one of the effective ways to obtain clean hydrogen energy in the future. Pt-based materials are the effective catalysts in hydrogen evolution reaction, but they are expensive, and difficult to recycle, so that their application is impeded in the development of economical hydrogen energy. Therefore it is the key trend to develop efficient non-noble metal electrocatalysts with the aim of providing cost-competitive hydrogen energy. In this review, we highlighted the recent research efforts toward the synthesis of noble metal-free electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), mainly focusing on nanomaterial catalysts supported on carbon fiber materials. We reviewed several important kinds of heterogeneous non-noble metal electrocatalysts, including sulfides, selenides, carbides, phosphides, and oxides. In the discussion, emphasis was given to the synthetic methods of these HER electrocatalysts, and the strategies for performance improvement. In addition, this review briefly summarized the application of carbon fiber material as substrate in the field of electroanalytical chemistry.