ABSTRACT
The water-splitting technique of hydrogen production has gained wide attention of researchers in recent years due to its clean fuel production and integrative compatibility with intermittent energy sources. Pure hydrogen production using renewable energy sources can be achieved using an indirect approach, i.e., electrochemical water splitting. However, the anodic half-reaction of water splitting, i.e., oxygen evolution reaction (OER) or water oxidation demands the design and development of efficient and low-cost electrode materials. Due to this, it has become the bottleneck of the water-splitting technique of hydrogen production. This chapter highlights the recent research efforts toward electrode materials for electrochemical water oxidation or OER application. In this chapter, the introduction to hydrogen fuel, water splitting and water oxidation along with performance evaluating parameters for electrochemical OER is made. A further survey of electrode materials reported in the last 5 years for the application of electrochemical OER is made to demonstrate the status in this research field. Specifically, reports on oxides, sulfides, phosphides and layered double hydroxides (LDHs) of transition metals are summarized. Finally, current existing challenges and future working directions in this field are discussed.
