Excellent catalytic performance towards the hydrogen evolution reaction in topological semimetals

TL;DR

This review discusses recent advances in topological semimetals as catalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions, highlighting their high catalytic performance and the underlying mechanisms behind their effectiveness.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive summary of recent progress, development routes, and fundamental mechanisms of topological semimetals used as HER catalysts.

Findings

Topological semimetals exhibit high catalytic activity for HER.

Recent experimental studies confirm the effectiveness of topological catalysts.

Systematic analysis of development and mechanisms enhances understanding of topological catalysis.

Abstract

Topological states of matter and their corresponding properties are classical research topics in condensed matter physics. Quite recently, the application of materials that feature these states has been extended to the field of electrochemical catalysis and become an emerging research topic that is receiving increasing interest. In particular, several recent experimental studies performed on topological semimetals have already revealed high catalytic performance towards hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), strongly promoting acceptance of the fresh concept of the topological catalyst. This emerging concept has experienced rapid developments in the last few years, but these developments have been rarely summarized. Herein, we offer a comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art progress in developing topological catalysts for the HER process through topological semimetals such as Weyl semimetals, Dirac semimetals, nodal line semimetals, etc. The course of development, the general research routes, and the fundamental mechanisms in topological catalysts are also systematically analyzed in this review.