Topic: Advanced Hydrogen Energy Materials and In Situ Characterization Technologies

Advanced hydrogen energy materials constitute a fundamental cornerstone for advancing a sustainable hydrogen economy. The core challenge lies in achieving efficient and stable hydrogen production, separation, storage, and conversion. In recent years, water splitting technologies, particularly photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and photoelectrocatalysis, along with fuel cell technologies, have opened up sustainable pathways for the production and utilization of green hydrogen. Simultaneously, a deeper understanding of the structure-activity relationships of materials under realistic operating conditions necessitates the development of in situ characterization techniques capable of capturing key physicochemical information during dynamic reaction processes, thereby providing theoretical guidance for the rational design of advanced hydrogen energy materials.

This Special Issue, titled “Advanced Hydrogen Energy Materials and In Situ Characterization Techniques,” aims to present the latest research findings about the design and development of efficient hydrogen energy systems. Submissions that integrate in situ characterization techniques with hydrogen energy research are particularly welcome.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Design and Synthesis of Hydrogen Energy Materials: Material systems for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR);

Energy Conversion: Applications in photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and photoelectrocatalysis;

In Situ Characterization Techniques: Applications of techniques such as in situ Raman spectroscopy, in situ infrared (IR) spectroscopy, in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and in situ electrochemical mass spectrometry (EC-MS);

Theoretical Calculations and Simulations: Integration of theoretical calculations with machine learning-assisted material screening;

Fundamental Research: Mechanisms of photoinduced electron-hole separation at surfaces/interfaces, charge/ion transport mechanisms, and the dynamic evolution of active sites;

Device Integration: Stability, scalability, and large-scale applications.

Hydrogen energy, in situ characterization techniques, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, photoelectrocatalysis, reaction kinetics