Hydrogen (H₂), derived from electrochemical water splitting, is usually believed to be a promising alternative for fossil energy due to its environmentally friendly and renewable traits. At present, IrO₂ and Pt/C are regarded as the state‐of‐the‐art electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), respectively, but their poor durability and high cost severely impede the wide applications. Thus, constructing highly active, stable, and low‐cost electrocatalysts for OER and HER is significantly important. Herein, the synthesis methods, construction of active sites, and catalytic coupling mechanisms for water splitting are fully summarized. In particular, the alloy effect, interface effect, various defects, and doping effects in electrocatalysts are the main reasons to improve the intrinsic catalytic activities. Finally, the future development trend of electrochemical catalysts for water splitting is prospected in the conclusion. It is believed that a comprehensive understanding of materials design strategies is provided, which is beneficial to the development of water splitting.

中文翻译：

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高活性水分解用电催化剂的合成及催化偶联机理研究进展

氢（H ₂）源自电化学水分解，由于其环保和可再生的特性，通常被认为是化石能源的有前途的替代品。目前，IrO ₂Pt / C和Pt / C分别被认为是用于氧释放反应（OER）和氢释放反应（HER）的最先进的电催化剂，但是它们较差的耐用性和高成本严重阻碍了其广泛应用。因此，构建用于OER和HER的高活性，稳定和低成本的电催化剂非常重要。在此，对水分解的合成方法，活性位点的构建和催化偶联机理进行了全面总结。特别地，电催化剂中的合金效应，界面效应，各种缺陷和掺杂效应是提高固有催化活性的主要原因。最后，展望了水分解用电化学催化剂的未来发展趋势。