Carbon–based transition metal sulfides/selenides nanostructures for electrocatalytic water splitting

Transition metal sulfides/selenides are promising choice for electrocatalytic water splitting. However, the relatively low conductivity and utilization of active sites severely hinder its commercial application for H2 and O2 generation. Therefore, carbon substrates have been used to construct carbon–based transition metal sulfides/selenides for improving the dispersion and charge transfer rate of active sites. Herein, the research progress and all kinds of carbon–based transition metal sulfides/selenides have been systematically summarized and discussed. Moreover, various of strategies for boosting the properties of transition metal sulfides, selenides and sulfoselenides such as carbon substrate design, nanostructure construction, ion doping and surface engineering in terms of active sites are introduced in detail. Finally, this review briefly summarizes the challenges and research direction of carbon–based transition metal sulfur selenides for electrocatalytic water splitting, providing new inspiration for the rational design of high–performance catalysts.