Bioinspired Molecular Electrocatalysts for H<sub>2</sub>Production: Chemical Strategies
Lili Sun, Carole Duboc, Kaiji Shen
Abstract
The environmentally friendly production of H2 is one of the major challenges that society has to face in the next decades, as H2 is considered as a promising energy carrier. By taking inspiration from nature, and especially from the two enzymes [NiFe] and [FeFe] hydrogenases, capable of producing H2 catalytically with high rate, efforts have been focused on mimicking the structural and/or functional properties of their active site, i.e., organometallic NiFe and FeFe complexes, respectively. This perspective gives an update on families of bioinspired FeFe and NiFe (electro)catalysts with the aim of emphasing the features that seem to be critical for optimal perfomances: the presence of a (i) nearby electron reservoir or (ii) potential proton relay or (iii) hydride species with specific structural and electronic properties.