Pre-catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction: from dynamic reconstruction to rational design
- 1Jiangsu 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
- 2Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University Sendai 980-8577 Japan
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.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026precatalysts,
title = {{Pre-catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction: from dynamic reconstruction to rational design}},
author = {Xin Zhang and Jinrui Hu and Xinyi Yao and Wei Yan and Linda Zhang and Yawen Tang and Meng Li and Hao Li and Gengtao Fu},
journal = {Chemical Science},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1039/d6sc05913a},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sc05913a},
note = {CC BY 3.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Pre-catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction: from dynamic reconstruction to rational design
AU - Xin Zhang
AU - Jinrui Hu
AU - Xinyi Yao
AU - Wei Yan
AU - Linda Zhang
AU - Yawen Tang
AU - Meng Li
AU - Hao Li
AU - Gengtao Fu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/28
JO - Chemical Science
DO - 10.1039/d6sc05913a
UR - https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sc05913a
AB - 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.
SN - 2041-6520
SN - 2041-6539
ER -