Research progress and surface/interfacial regulation methods for electrophotocatalytic hydrogen production from water splitting

Hydrogen energy with clean, high–energy density, and renewable characteristics has been regarded as an ideal energy to solve the current energy crisis and environmental pollution problems. Water splitting driven by renewable resource–derived electricity and direct use of sunlight based on electrocatalytic and photocatalytic reactions are two promising ways for sustainable hydrogen production. The development and design of efficient electrocatalysts and photocatalysts for hydrogen production is one of the most challenging and demanding missions for today's scientists. In this review, the basic principle and performance evaluation parameters of electrocatalytic and photocatalytic hydrogen production are first introduced, followed by a comprehensive summary of the research progress in electrocatalysts and photocatalysts for hydrogen production from water splitting. Subsequently, special focus is put on the surface and interfacial regulation strategies of electrocatalysts and photocatalysts for improving their H2 production performances from water splitting, including morphology regulation, doping and surface defects, heterojunction construction, and cocatalyst modification. Finally, we also point out that the development of advanced electrocatalysts have the important positive effect for the design of efficient photocatalysts due to the similar nature between the electrocatalysts and cocatalysts in photocatalysis (the active sites that facilitate charge transfer and reduce the reaction energy barrier) during water splitting. We hope that this review article can give some inspirations and guidance for the design of efficient electrocatalytic and photocatalytic water splitting systems.