Electrocatalysis Goes Nuts
Andrew R. Akbashev
Abstract
While searching for new nanoelectrocatalysts with outstanding performance, researchers often disregard the complexity and true usability of such materials. Here, it is argued that the chemical and structural complexity of electrocatalytic materials and electrodes reported in numerous studies significantly exceeds the quality of their characterization, making meaningful interpretation of the data impossible and providing little (or no) scientific insight as a result. It is suggested that the experiments should be designed with the aim of obtaining an interpretable electrochemical response by minimizing the complexity of electrode materials. A greater recognition of the worrisome state of the field will help improve the quality of research in electrocatalysis.