{
  "abstract": "The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is central to green hydrogen production, yet its sluggish kinetics impose a fundamental limit on energy conversion efficiency. Catalyst design is undergoing a paradigm shift from static optimization toward dynamic control, as the catalytically active phase often emerges in situ at reductive potentials, giving rise to the concept of the “pre-catalyst”. While oxidative reconstruction in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has been extensively studied, pre-catalyst reductive reconstruction under HER conditions involves metal–hydrogen (M–H) chemistry and remains mechanistically elusive. This review presents a “dynamic reconstruction to rational design” framework for HER pre-catalysts, surveying reconstruction pathways, dissecting extrinsic-intrinsic driving forces (potential, pH vs. electronic structure, and defects), and distilling strategies (defect engineering, chemical state modulation, etc.) that pre-encode the target active phase. We further highlight the methodological synergy of multimodal operando characterization and multiscale computation and argue that HER reconstruction is a thermodynamically driven, chemically pre-programmable evolutionary process rather than an incidental phenomenon. This reconstruction-centered view offers a design logic that extends beyond the HER to other reductive electrocatalytic systems.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Long-duration Energy Storage Battery Technology, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedical Functional Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Micro Nano Sensing and Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University Nanjing 210023 China",
    "Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University Sendai 980-8577 Japan"
  ],
  "article_type": "review article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Xin Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jinrui Hu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Xinyi Yao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Wei Yan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Linda Zhang",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3841-544X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yawen Tang",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4468-0821"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Meng Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Hao Li",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7577-1366"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Gengtao Fu",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0411-645X"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bb4c0xwbw1pex.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1039/d6sc05913a",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13548199/",
  "id": "bb4c0xwbw1pex",
  "issns": [
    "2041-6520",
    "2041-6539"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sc05913a",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-3.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 3.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Chemistry"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2105|Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7204521369",
  "pdf_url": "https://pubs.rsc.org/sc/article-pdf/doi/10.1039/D6SC05913A/13725800/d6sc05913a.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13548199",
  "pmid": "42707473",
  "published": "2026-08-28",
  "publisher": "Royal Society of Chemistry",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bb4c0xwbw1pex.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:23:45Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13548199",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sc05913a"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2105|Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion",
      "subfield": "electrochemistry-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Pre-catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction: from dynamic reconstruction to rational design",
  "title_text": "Pre-catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction: from dynamic reconstruction to rational design",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T12:20:52Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bb4c0xwbw1pex",
  "venue": "Chemical Science",
  "versions": []
}