Noble metal-based electrocatalysts for acidic water electrolysis: Design strategies, AI-empowered approaches, and industrialization prospects

Noble metal-based electrocatalysts for acidic water electrolysis: Design strategies, AI-empowered approaches, and industrialization prospects

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Xuan Yang^a^,^b, Chenfei Xu^b^,^c, Ziqi Fu^a^,^b, Xiaoyang Wang^a^,^b^,^*, Yanan Chen^a^,^b^,^**

Progress in Natural Science: Materials International | 2026, 36(1) : 31 - 41

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Progress in Natural Science: Materials International | 2026, 36(1): 31-41

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Noble metal-based electrocatalysts for acidic water electrolysis: Design strategies, AI-empowered approaches, and industrialization prospects

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Xuan Yang^a^,^b, Chenfei Xu^b^,^c, Ziqi Fu^a^,^b, Xiaoyang Wang^a^,^b^,^*, Yanan Chen^a^,^b^,^**

Affiliations

^aState Key Laboratory of Precious Metal Functional Materials Tianjin University Tianjin, 300350, PR China

^bSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Advanced Ceramics Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, PR China

^cJoint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Fuzhou, 350207, PR China

Published: 2026-02-22 doi: 10.1016/j.pnsc.2025.12.007

Outline

Abstract

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Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) has long been regarded as a promising technology for hydrogen production due to its high electrolytic efficiency, reliability, and rapid response to renewable energy sources. Currently, noble metals and their oxides—such as Pt, IrO₂, and RuO₂—remain the most widely used and high active electrocatalysts in acidic media to accelerate the water electrolysis processes. However, their large-scale pratical application is severely hindered by the factors such as scarcity and the trade-off between activity and stability. Recently, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with high-throughput synthesis technology has demonstrated an increasingly vital role in material screening, enabling the design of highly efficient and cost-effective catalysts. This paper first reviews the fundamental catalytic mechanisms of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic media. Then, it summarizes the design strategies and prevailing challenges for noble metal catalysts in acidic water electrolysis. Finally, it presents several data-driven, synergistic approaches enabled by AI in noble metal catalyst research and development (R&D), along with the latest progress, current challenges, and future prospects.

Key words

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) / Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) / Artificial intelligence (AI) / Machine learning (ML) / High-throughput screening (HTS)

Cite this Article

Xuan Yang, Chenfei Xu, Ziqi Fu, Xiaoyang Wang, Yanan Chen. Noble metal-based electrocatalysts for acidic water electrolysis: Design strategies, AI-empowered approaches, and industrialization prospects[J]. Progress in Natural Science: Materials International, 2026 , 36 (1) : 31 -41 . DOI: 10.1016/j.pnsc.2025.12.007

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Funding

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National Natural Science Foundation of China(52171219; 92372107)

Appendix

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Year 2026 volume 36 Issue 1

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Article Info

doi: 10.1016/j.pnsc.2025.12.007

Receive Date：2025-11-25
Online Date：2026-06-03
Published：2026-02-22

Article Data

Affiliations

History

Received：2025-11-25
Revised：2025-12-11
Accepted：2025-12-16

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China(52171219; 92372107)

Affiliations

^aState Key Laboratory of Precious Metal Functional Materials Tianjin University Tianjin, 300350, PR China

^cJoint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Fuzhou, 350207, PR China

Corresponding:

^* State Key Laboratory of Precious Metal Functional Materials Tianjin University Tianjin 300350, PR China. E-mail addresses: xywang53@tju.edu.cn (X. Wang)

^** State Key Laboratory of Precious Metal Functional Materials Tianjin University Tianjin, 300350, PR China. E-mail addresses: yananchen@tju.edu.cn (Y. Chen).

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表12种不同金属材料的力学参数

科 Family	属数 Number of genus	种数 Number of species	占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%)	属 Genus	种数 Number of species	占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%)
鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae	2	11	5.26	鹅膏菌属 Amanita	10	4.78
小菇科 Mycenaceae	2	12	5.74	丝盖伞属 Inocybe	5	2.39
多孔菌科 Polyporaceae	8	14	6.70	蜡蘑属 Laccaria	5	2.39
红菇科 Russulaceae	3	23	11.00	小皮伞属 Marasmius	6	2.87
				小菇属 Mycena	11	5.26
				光柄菇属 Pluteus	5	2.39
				红菇属 Russula	17	8.13
				栓菌属 Trametes	5	2.39

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