Designing nickel based ceramics as catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction combining theoretical and experimental observations

Hydrogen is one of the most promising energy carriers due to its high energy density per unit mass. However, the separation of the relative strong H-O bonds requires considerable amount of energy. Up to date, noble and rare metals as platinum or iridium are showing the best performances in the electrocatalytic water splitting reaction. In recent years, ceramic materials as phosphides, sulfides or carbides emerged as abundant alternative to noble metals for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)1. However, their high activity towards the HER is still under debate in literature and only recently theoretical and experiential approaches have been undertaken to correlate theoretical and experimental data