Role of Interfacial Water Structure in Acidic Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysis

Abstract

Hydrogen production through water electrolysis powered by renewable sources, particularly via proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE), has garnered considerable interest due to its high efficiency and operational flexibility. However, the widespread adoption of this technology is primarily hindered by the intrinsically sluggish and complex reaction kinetics of the anodic acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Contemporary research on high-performance catalysts, including noble metal oxides and transition metal oxides, predominantly adopts a thermodynamic perspective, optimizing catalytic performance by modulating the adsorption energies of key reaction intermediates. However, this mainstream strategy frequently fails to adequately consider the actual electrochemical reaction environment, that is, the structured electric double layer at the electrode/electrolyte interface. The essence of electrocatalysis resides at the electrode–electrolyte interface, where the structure, orientation, and hydrogen-bond network of interfacial water molecules critically influence water adsorption and activation, proton transfer, intermediate stabilization, and reaction pathway selection, thereby governing the overall reaction kinetics. This review focuses on acidic OER and systematically examines the central role of interfacial water throughout the catalytic process. We first clarify its function in different mechanistic pathways and introduce relevant in situ characterization techniques. Subsequently, we delve into the multiple roles of interfacial water, detailing its functions in participating as a reactant, stabilizing key intermediates, and regulating mass transport. Finally, we summarize recent strategies and design principles for enhancing catalyst performance through interfacial water structure engineering. This review delineates and consolidates the critical role of interfacial water structure, offering a new perspective for the rational design of efficient and stable acidic OER catalysts.

Keywords

acidic oxygen evolution reaction / electric double layer / interfacial water structure / reaction mechanism

References

[1] M. Z. Jacobson, W. G. Colella, and D. M. Golden, “Cleaning the Air and Improving Health With Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicles,” Science 308, no. 5730 (2005): 1901–1905.

[2] Z. W. Seh, J. Kibsgaard, C. F. Dickens, I. Chorkendorff, J. K. Nørskov, and T. F. Jaramillo, “Combining Theory and Experiment in Electrocatalysis: Insights Into Materials Design,” Science (New York, N.Y.) 355, no. 6321 (2017): eaad4998.

[3] F. Lai, H. Shang, Y. Jiao, X. Chen, T. Zhang, and X. Liu, “Recent Progress and Perspective on Electrocatalysis in Neutral Media: Mechanisms, Materials, and Advanced Characterizations,” Interdisciplinary Materials 3, no. 4 (2024): 492–529.

[4] G. Zhao, Y. Jiang, S.-X. Dou, W. Sun, and H. Pan, “Interface Engineering of Heterostructured Electrocatalysts Towards Efficient Alkaline Hydrogen Electrocatalysis,” Science Bulletin 66, no. 1 (2021): 85–96.

[5] A. J. Shih, M. C. O. Monteiro, F. Dattila, et al., “Water Electrolysis,” Nature Reviews Methods Primers 2 (2022): 84.

[6] S. Xu, Q. Wu, B.-A. Lu, T. Tang, J.-N. Zhang, and J.-S. Hu, “Recent Advances and Future Prospects on Industrial Catalysts for Green Hydrogen Production in Alkaline Media,” Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica 39, no. 2 (2023): 2209001.

[7] W. T. Hong, M. Risch, K. A. Stoerzinger, A. Grimaud, J. Suntivich, and Y. Shao-Horn, “Toward the Rational Design of Non-Precious Transition Metal Oxides for Oxygen Electrocatalysis,” Energy & Environmental Science 8, no. 5 (2015): 1404–1427.

[8] C. Spöri, J. T. H. Kwan, A. Bonakdarpour, D. P. Wilkinson, and P. Strasser, “The Stability Challenges of Oxygen Evolving Catalysts: Towards a Common Fundamental Understanding and Mitigation of Catalyst Degradation,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 56, no. 22 (2017): 5994–6021.

[9] J. Xu, Y. Yang, H. Jin, Y. Zheng, and S.-Z. Qiao, “Bridging Gaps Between Lab- and Fab-Oriented Anode Design for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers,” Chem 11, no. 1 (2025): 102305.

[10] Q. Ma and S. Mu, “Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction: Mechanism, Catalyst Classification, and Enhancement Strategies,” Interdisciplinary Materials 2, no. 1 (2023): 53–90.

[11] R. Wang, Y. Yang, J. Guo, et al., “Cathode Catalyst Layers Modified With Brønsted Acid Oxides to Improve Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolysers for Impure Water Splitting,” Nature Energy 10 (2025): 880–889.

[12] H. B. Tao, H. Liu, K. Lao, et al., “The Gap Between Academic Research on Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysers and Industrial Demands,” Nature Nanotechnology 19 (2024): 1074–1076.

[13] S. Hao, P. Zhu, and H. Wang, “Failure Mechanisms in PEM Water Electrolyzers,” Carbon Future 2, no. 4 (2025): 9200060.

[14] L. Li, P. Wang, Q. Shao, and X. Huang, “Recent Progress in Advanced Electrocatalyst Design for Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction,” Advanced Materials 33, no. 50 (2021): 2004243.

[15] J. Song, C. Wei, Z.-F. Huang, et al., “A Review on Fundamentals for Designing Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts,” Chemical Society Reviews 49, no. 7 (2020): 2196–2214.

[16] G. T. K. K. Gunasooriya and J. K. Nørskov, “Analysis of Acid-Stable and Active Oxides for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction,” ACS Energy Letters 5, no. 12 (2020): 3778–3787.

[17] L. An, C. Wei, M. Lu, et al., “Recent Development of Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts in Acidic Environment,” Advanced Materials 33, no. 20 (2021): 2006328.

[18] W. Li, C. Wang, and X. Lu, “Breaking the Bottleneck of Activity and Stability of RuO₂-Based Electrocatalysts for Acidic Oxygen Evolution,” Nano Letters 24, no. 38 (2024): 11779–11792.

[19] J. Zhang, X. Fu, S. Kwon, et al., “Tantalum-Stabilized Ruthenium Oxide Electrocatalysts for Industrial Water Electrolysis,” Science 387, no. 6729 (2025): 48–55.

[20] H. Jia, N. Yao, Y. Jin, L. Wu, J. Zhu, and W. Luo, “Stabilizing Atomic Ru Species in Conjugated sp² Carbon-Linked Covalent Organic Framework for Acidic Water Oxidation,” Nature Communications 15 (2024): 5419.

[21] A. Li, S. Kong, K. Adachi, et al., “Atomically Dispersed Hexavalent Iridium Oxide From MnO₂ Reduction for Oxygen Evolution Catalysis,” Science 384, no. 6696 (2024): 666–670.

[22] W. Shi, T. Shen, C. Xing, et al., “Ultrastable Supported Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalyst Formed by Ripening Induced Embedding,” Science 387, no. 6735 (2025): 791–796.

[23] M. Chatti, J. L. Gardiner, M. Fournier, et al., “Intrinsically Stable in Situ Generated Electrocatalyst for Long-Term Oxidation of Acidic Water at Up to 80°C,” Nature Catalysis 2 (2019): 457–465.

[24] S. Kong, A. Li, J. Long, et al., “Acid-Stable Manganese Oxides for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis,” Nature Catalysis 7 (2024): 252–261.

[25] D. Wang, F. Lin, H. Luo, et al., “Ir-O-Mn Embedded in Porous Nanosheets Enhances Charge Transfer in Low-Iridium PEM Electrolyzers,” Nature Communications 16 (2025): 181.

[26] W. Wang, C. Li, C. Zhou, et al., “Enrooted-Type Metal-Support Interaction Boosting Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Media,” Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) 63, no. 28 (2024): e20240647.

[27] A. Kumar, M. Gil-Sepulcre, J. Lee, et al., “Iridium Single-Atom-Ensembles Stabilized on Mn-Substituted Spinel Oxide for Durable Acidic Water Electrolysis,” Advanced Materials 36, no. 46 (2024): 2401648.

[28] A. S. Raman and A. Vojvodic, “Providing Atomistic Insights Into the Dissolution of Rutile Oxides in Electrocatalytic Water Splitting,” Journal of Physical Chemistry C 126, no. 2 (2022): 922–932.

[29] A. Zagalskaya and V. Alexandrov, “Role of Defects in the Interplay Between Adsorbate Evolving and Lattice Oxygen Mechanisms of the Oxygen Evolution Reaction in RuO₂ and IrO₂,” ACS Catalysis 10, no. 6 (2020): 3650–3657.

[30] O. Kasian, S. Geiger, P. Stock, et al., “On the Origin of the Improved Ruthenium Stability in RuO₂–IrO₂ Mixed Oxides,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society 163, no. 11 (2016): F3099–F3104.

[31] L. Chong, G. Gao, J. Wen, et al., “La- and Mn-Doped Cobalt Spinel Oxygen Evolution Catalyst for Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolysis,” Science 380, no. 6645 (2023): 609–616.

[32] Z. P. Ifkovits, J. M. Evans, P. A. Kempler, et al., “Powdered Mn_ySb_1−yO_x Catalysts for Cerium-Mediated Oxygen Evolution in Acidic Environments,” ACS Energy Letters 7, no. 12 (2022): 4258–4264.

[33] Y. Wang, P. Guo, J. Zhou, et al., “Tuning the Co Pre-Oxidation Process of Co₃O₄ via Geometrically Reconstructed F–Co–O Active Sites for Boosting Acidic Water Oxidation,” Energy & Environmental Science 17, no. 22 (2024): 8820–8828.

[34] M. Y. Lin, W. J. Li, H. Y. Lin, et al., “A Self-Healing Non-Precious Metal Oxide Anode in Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolysis Beyond 1000 h Stability at 2 A cm⁻²,” Energy & Environmental Science 18, no. 20 (2025): 9183–9193.

[35] C. Yang, Y. Zhu, F. Zhang, et al., “Sulfur-Doped IrO₂ Enable Pathway Switch to Lattice Oxygen Mechanism With Enhanced Stability for Low Iridium PEM Water Electrolysis,” Advanced Materials 37, no. 38 (2025): 2507560.

[36] Z. Shi, J. Li, Y. Wang, et al., “Customized Reaction Route for Ruthenium Oxide Towards Stabilized Water Oxidation in High-Performance PEM Electrolyzers,” Nature Communications 14 (2023): 843.

[37] Y. Xu, Z. Mao, J. Zhang, et al., “Strain-Modulated Ru-O Covalency in Ru-Sn Oxide Enabling Efficient and Stable Water Oxidation in Acidic Solution,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 63, no. 8 (2024): e202316029.

[38] C. Yang, W. Ling, Y. Zhu, et al., “Surface Hydroxylation Engineering to Boost Oxygen Evolution Reaction on IrO₂/TiO₂ for PEM Water Electrolyzer,” Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy 358 (2024): 124462.

[39] Y. Chen, Y. Liu, L. Li, T. Sakthive, Z. Guo, and Z. Dai, “Asymmetric Bond Delta-Polarization at the Interfacial Se─Ru─O Bridge for Efficient pH-Robust Water Electrolysis,” Advanced Functional Materials 34, no. 46 (2024): 2406587.

[40] X. Huang, C. Lee, Y. Li, J. Xu, and D. Liu, “Acid-Treated RuO₂/Co₃O₄ Nanostructures for Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalysis,” ACS Applied Nano Materials 7, no. 8 (2024): 9244–9251.

[41] A. Cai, H. Jia, N. Luo, et al., “Balancing *OOH Adsorption and Ru─O Covalency via Ru-d Customized Engineering to Boosted Acidic Water Oxidation,” Chemical Engineering Journal 518 (2025): 164673.

[42] R. Deng, F. Liu, S. Gao, et al., “Rational Design of β-MnO₂ via Ir/Ru Co-Substitution for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Media,” ACS Catalysis 15, no. 3 (2025): 1782–1794.

[43] L. Wu, N. Yao, Q. Meng, et al., “Manipulating Reaction Pathway of Ruthenium Oxide With Enhanced Performance and Stability Toward Acidic Water Oxidation,” Chem Catalysis 4, no. 6 (2024): 101004.

[44] M. Yan, R. Yang, C. Liu, Y. Gao, and B. Zhang, “In Situ Probing the Anion-Widened Anodic Electric Double Layer for Enhanced Faradaic Efficiency of Chlorine-Involved Reactions,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 147, no. 8 (2025): 6698–6706.

[45] G. Shi, T. Lu, and L. Zhang, “Understanding the Interfacial Water Structure in Electrocatalysis,” National Science Review 11, no. 12 (2024): nwae241.

[46] P. Li, Y. Jiang, Y. Hu, et al., “Hydrogen Bond Network Connectivity in the Electric Double Layer Dominates the Kinetic pH Effect in Hydrogen Electrocatalysis on Pt,” Nature Catalysis 5 (2022): 900–911.

[47] E. D. Clinton, J. B. Falqueto, T. J. Schmidt, and E. Fabbri, “Mitigating Challenges of the Neutral Oxygen Evolution Reaction: The Undervalued Importance of Electrolyte Engineering,” JACS Au 5, no. 12 (2025): 5851–5865.

[48] Y. Tian, B. Huang, Y. Song, et al., “Effect of Ion-Specific Water Structures at Metal Surfaces on Hydrogen Production,” Nature Communications 15 (2024): 7834.

[49] N. Yao, H. Jia, J. Zhu, et al., “Atomically Dispersed Ru Oxide Catalyst With Lattice Oxygen Participation for Efficient Acidic Water Oxidation,” Chem 9 (2023): 1882–1896.

[50] Z. Shi, Y. Wang, J. Li, et al., “Confined Ir Single Sites With Triggered Lattice Oxygen Redox: Toward Boosted and Sustained Water Oxidation Catalysis,” Joule 5, no. 8 (2021): 2164–2176.

[51] C. Lin, J.-L. Li, X. Li, et al., “In-Situ Reconstructed Ru Atom Array on α-MnO₂ With Enhanced Performance for Acidic Water Oxidation,” Nature Catalysis 4 (2021): 1012–1023.

[52] J. O. Bockris, “Kinetics of Activation Controlled Consecutive Electrochemical Reactions: Anodic Evolution of Oxygen,” Journal of Chemical Physics 24, no. 4 (1956): 817–827.

[53] Z. Liu, X. Wang, G. Xie, and J. Ge, “Acid Oxygen Evolution Reaction: Mechanisms, Design Principles, and Prospects for Application in Membrane Electrodes,” Chemical Engineering Journal 499 (2024): 155901.

[54] K. Zhang, W. Guo, Z. Liang, and R. Zou, “Metal-Organic Framework Based Nanomaterials for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Redox Reaction,” Science China Chemistry 62 (2019): 417–429.

[55] J. Shan, Y. Zheng, B. Shi, K. Davey, and S.-Z. Qiao, “Regulating Electrocatalysts via Surface and Interface Engineering for Acidic Water Electrooxidation,” ACS Energy Letters 4, no. 11 (2019): 2719–2730.

[56] J. Zhang, H. B. Yang, D. Zhou, and B. Liu, “Adsorption Energy in Oxygen Electrocatalysis,” Chemical Reviews 122, no. 23 (2022): 17028–17072.

[57] J. Rossmeisl, Z.-W. Qu, H. Zhu, G.-J. Kroes, and J. K. Nørskov, “Electrolysis of Water on Oxide Surfaces,” Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 607, no. 1–2 (2007): 83–89.

[58] I. C. Man, H.-Y. Su, F. Calle-Vallejo, et al., “Universality in Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysis on Oxide Surfaces,” ChemCatChem 3, no. 7 (2011): 1159–1165.

[59] M. T. M. Koper, “Thermodynamic Theory of Multi-Electron Transfer Reactions: Implications for Electrocatalysis,” Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 660, no. 2 (2011): 254–260.

[60] X. Rong, J. Parolin, and A. M. Kolpak, “A Fundamental Relationship Between Reaction Mechanism and Stability in Metal Oxide Catalysts for Oxygen Evolution,” ACS Catalysis 6, no. 2 (2016): 1153–1158.

[61] T. Binninger, R. Mohamed, K. Waltar, et al., “Thermodynamic Explanation of the Universal Correlation Between Oxygen Evolution Activity and Corrosion of Oxide Catalysts,” Scientific Reports 5 (2015): 12167.

[62] N. Zhang and Y. Chai, “Lattice Oxygen Redox Chemistry in Solid-State Electrocatalysts for Water Oxidation,” Energy & Environmental Science 14, no. 9 (2021): 4647–4671.

[63] N. Deka, T. E. Jones, L. J. Falling, et al., “On the Operando Structure of Ruthenium Oxides During the Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Media,” ACS Catalysis 13, no. 11 (2023): 7488–7498.

[64] Y. Wu, Y. Zhao, P. Zhai, et al., “Triggering Lattice Oxygen Activation of Single-Atomic Mo Sites Anchored on Ni–Fe Oxyhydroxides Nanoarrays for Electrochemical Water Oxidation,” Advanced Materials 34, no. 29 (2022): 2202523.

[65] A. Grimaud, O. Diaz-Morales, B. Han, et al., “Activating Lattice Oxygen Redox Reactions in Metal Oxides to Catalyse Oxygen Evolution,” Nature Chemistry 9 (2017): 457–465.

[66] D. Zhang, M. Li, X. Yong, et al., “Construction of Zn-Doped RuO₂ Nanowires for Efficient and Stable Water Oxidation in Acidic Media,” Nature Communications 14 (2023): 2517.

[67] L. Giordano, B. Han, M. Risch, et al., “pH Dependence of OER Activity of Oxides: Current and Future Perspectives,” Catalysis Today 262 (2016): 2–10.

[68] M. T. M. Koper, “Theory of Multiple Proton-Electron Transfer Reactions and Its Implications for Electrocatalysis,” Chemical Science 4, no. 7 (2013): 2710.

[69] L. Wang, S.-F. Hung, S. Zhao, et al., “Modulating the Covalency of Ru─O Bonds by Dynamic Reconstruction for Efficient Acidic Oxygen Evolution,” Nature Communications 16 (2025): 3502.

[70] Z.-F. Huang, J. Song, Y. Du, et al., “Chemical and Structural Origin of Lattice Oxygen Oxidation in Co–Zn Oxyhydroxide Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts,” Nature Energy 4 (2019): 329–338.

[71] J. Zheng, Z. Chen, W. Lu, et al., “Accelerated Deprotonation Triggered by Fluorinated RuO₂ Enables Efficient and Stable Acidic Water Electrolysis,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 148, no. 1 (2026): 217–227.

[72] Y. Hao, S.-F. Hung, W.-J. Zeng, et al., “Switching the Oxygen Evolution Mechanism on Atomically Dispersed Ru for Enhanced Acidic Reaction Kinetics,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 145, no. 43 (2023): 23659–23669.

[73] H. Wang, C. Lin, L. Tan, et al., “Atomic Ga Triggers Spatiotemporal Coordination of Oxygen Radicals for Efficient Water Oxidation on Crystalline RuO₂,” Nature Communications 16 (2025): 3976.

[74] K. Xiao, Y. Wang, P. Wu, L. Hou, and Z.-Q. Liu, “Frontispiece: Activating Lattice Oxygen in Spinel ZnCo₂O₄ Through Filling Oxygen Vacancies With Fluorine for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 62, no. 24 (2023): e202301408.

[75] L. Wang, L. Shi, Q. Liu, et al., “Structurally Robust Honeycomb Layered Strontium Iridate as Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalyst in Acid,” ACS Catalysis 13, no. 11 (2023): 7322–7330.

[76] Y. Pan, X. Xu, Y. Zhong, et al., “Direct Evidence of Boosted Oxygen Evolution over Perovskite by Enhanced Lattice Oxygen Participation,” Nature Communications 11 (2020): 2002.

[77] Y. Wei, Y. Hu, P. Da, Z. Weng, P. Xi, and C. H. Yan, “Triggered Lattice-Oxygen Oxidation With Active-Site Generation and Self-Termination of Surface Reconstruction During Water Oxidation,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120, no. 50 (2023): e2312224120.

[78] X. Cui, Y. Ding, F. Zhang, et al., “Reserved Charges in a Long-Lived NiOOH Phase Drive Catalytic Water Oxidation,” Nature Chemistry 18 (2026): 120–127.

[79] Q. Lu, J. Liu, X. Zou, et al., “Breaking the Activity-Stability Trade-Off of RuO₂ via Metallic Ru Bilateral Regulation for Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 64, no. 22 (2025): e202503733.

[80] Z. Niu, Z. Lu, Z. Qiao, et al., “Robust Ru-VO₂ Bifunctional Catalysts for All-pH Overall Water Splitting,” Advanced Materials 36, no. 9 (2023): 2310690.

[81] D. Wu, K. Kusada, S. Yoshioka, et al., “Efficient Overall Water Splitting in Acid With Anisotropic Metal Nanosheets,” Nature Communications 12 (2021): 1145.

[82] X. Jin, T. Lee, J. Park, et al., “pH-Dependent Mechanism of Oxygen Evolution in Highly Disordered RuO₂ Nanosheets,” Nature Communications 17 (2026): 672.

[83] H. Jun, E. Kang, J. Moon, et al., “Quantity Effect of Heteroatom Incorporation on the Oxygen Evolution Mechanism in Ruthenium Oxide,” Chem 11, no. 5 (2025): 102367.

[84] Y. Huang, Z. Wang, H. Xiao, Q. Liu, and X. Wang, “Activating and Stabilizing Lattice Oxygen via Self-Adaptive Zn–NiOOH Sub-Nanowires for Oxygen Evolution Reaction,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 146, no. 42 (2024): 29006–29016.

[85] J. Jin, J. Yin, Y. Hu, et al., “Stabilizing Sulfur Sites in Tetraoxygen Tetrahedral Coordination Structure for Efficient Electrochemical Water Oxidation,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 63, no. 9 (2024): e202313185.

[86] J. Xu, H. Jin, T. Lu, et al., “IrO_x·nH₂O With Lattice Water-Assisted Oxygen Exchange for High-Performance Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers,” Science Advances 9, no. 25 (2023): eadh1718.

[87] Y. Yuan, J. Li, Y. Zhu, et al., “Water in Electrocatalysis,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 64, no. 18 (2025): e202425590.

[88] H. Schäfer, A. Schuster, S. Kunis, et al., “The Readiness of Water Molecules to Split Into Hydrogen + Oxygen: A Proposed New Aspect of Water Splitting,” Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) 35, no. 30 (2023): 2300099.

[89] A. Serva, N. Dubouis, A. Grimaud, and M. Salanne, “Confining Water in Ionic and Organic Solvents to Tune Its Adsorption and Reactivity at Electrified Interfaces,” Accounts of Chemical Research 54, no. 4 (2021): 1034–1042.

[90] K.-Y. Chiang, J. Hunger, M. Bonn, and Y. Nagata, “Experimental Quantification of Nuclear Quantum Effects on the Hydrogen Bond of Liquid Water,” Science Advances 11, no. 14 (2025): eadv7218.

[91] A. Montenegro, C. Dutta, M. Mammetkuliev, et al., “Asymmetric Response of Interfacial Water to Applied Electric Fields,” Nature 594 (2021): 62–65.

[92] M. Flór, D. M. Wilkins, M. de la Puente, et al., “Dissecting the Hydrogen Bond Network of Water: Charge Transfer and Nuclear Quantum Effects,” Science 386, no. 6726 (2024): eads4369.

[93] J.-J. Velasco-Velez, C. H. Wu, T. A. Pascal, et al., “Interfacial Water. The Structure of Interfacial Water on Gold Electrodes Studied by X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy,” Science (New York, N.Y.) 346, no. 6211 (2014): 831–834.

[94] I. Ledezma-Yanez, W. D. Z. Wallace, P. Sebastián-Pascual, V. Climent, J. M. Feliu, and M. T. M. Koper, “Interfacial Water Reorganization as a pH-Dependent Descriptor of the Hydrogen Evolution Rate on Platinum Electrodes,” Nature Energy 2 (2017): 17031.

[95] E. Liu, L. Jiao, J. Li, et al., “Interfacial Water Shuffling the Intermediates of Hydrogen Oxidation and Evolution Reactions in Aqueous Media,” Energy & Environmental Science 13, no. 9 (2020): 3064–3074.

[96] P. Li, Y. Jiao, Y. Ruan, et al., “Revealing the Role of Double-Layer Microenvironments in pH-Dependent Oxygen Reduction Activity Over Metal-Nitrogen Carbon Catalysts,” Nature Communications 14 (2023): 6936.

[97] Y.-H. Wang, S. Zheng, W.-M. Yang, et al., “In Situ Raman Spectroscopy Reveals the Structure and Dissociation of Interfacial Water,” Nature 600 (2021): 81–85.

[98] L. Cao, Q. Luo, J. Chen, et al., “Dynamic Oxygen Adsorption on Single-Atomic Ruthenium Catalyst With High Performance for Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction,” Nature Communications 10 (2019): 4849.

[99] K. Zhao, X. Chang, H.-S. Su, Y. Nie, Q. Lu, and B. Xu, “Enhancing Hydrogen Oxidation and Evolution Kinetics by Tuning the Interfacial Hydrogen-Bonding Environment on Functionalized Platinum Surfaces,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 61, no. 39 (2022): e202207197.

[100] A. Goyal and M. T. M. Koper, “The Interrelated Effect of Cations and Electrolyte pH on the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on Gold Electrodes in Alkaline Media,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 60, no. 24 (2021): 13452–13462.

[101] E. Liu, J. Li, L. Jiao, et al., “Unifying the Hydrogen Evolution and Oxidation Reactions Kinetics in Base by Identifying the Catalytic Roles of Hydroxyl-Water-Cation,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 141, no. 7 (2019): 3232–3239.

[102] L. Shen, B. Lu, Y. Li, et al., “Interfacial Structure of Water as a New Descriptor of the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 59, no. 50 (2020): 22397–22402.

[103] Y. Sui, A. M. Scida, B. Li, et al., “The Influence of Ions on the Electrochemical Stability of Aqueous Electrolytes,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 63, no. 19 (2024): e202401555.

[104] C. Liang, Y. Katayama, Y. Tao, et al., “Role of Electrolyte pH on Water Oxidation for Iridium Oxides,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 146, no. 13 (2024): 8928–8938.

[105] R. R. Rao, B. Huang, Y. Katayama, et al., “pH- and Cation-Dependent Water Oxidation on Rutile RuO₂(110),” Journal of Physical Chemistry C 125, no. 15 (2021): 8195–8207.

[106] G. Di Liberto, G. Pacchioni, Y. Shao-Horn, and L. Giordano, “Role of Water Solvation on the Key Intermediates Catalyzing Oxygen Evolution on RuO₂,” Journal of Physical Chemistry C 127, no. 21 (2023): 10127–10133.

[107] Y. Zhao, Q.-Q. Li, Q.-F. He, et al., “In Situ Raman Spectroscopy Reveals the Multifunctional Role of Interfacial Water in CO₂-to-C₂ Electroreduction on Cu(hkl) Surfaces,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 147, no. 33 (2025): 30230–30238.

[108] H. Zhang, D. Raciti, and A. S. Hall, “Disordered Interfacial H₂O Promotes Electrochemical C─C Coupling,” Nature Chemistry 17 (2025): 1161–1168.

[109] J. Resasco, L. D. Chen, E. Clark, et al., “Promoter Effects of Alkali Metal Cations on the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 139, no. 32 (2017): 11277–11287.

[110] J. E. Huang, F. Li, A. Ozden, et al., “CO₂ Electrolysis to Multi-Carbon Products in Strong Acid,” Science 372, no. 6546 (2021): 1074–1078.

[111] S. Chen, S. Zhang, L. Guo, et al., “Reconstructed Ir–O–Mo Species With Strong Brønsted Acidity for Acidic Water Oxidation,” Nature Communications 14 (2023): 4127.

[112] Y. Wen, C. Liu, R. Huang, et al., “Introducing Brønsted Acid Sites to Accelerate the Bridging-Oxygen-Assisted Deprotonation in Acidic Water Oxidation,” Nature Communications 13 (2022): 4871.

[113] Y. Huang, Y. Gao, and B. Zhang, “Interfacial Water Regulation for Water-Participating Electrocatalytic Hydrogenation Reactions,” Chem 11, no. 5 (2025): 102533.

[114] Y. Fan, Y. Chen, W. Ge, et al., “Mechanistic Insights Into Surfactant-Modulated Electrode–Electrolyte Interface for Steering H₂O₂ Electrosynthesis,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 146, no. 11 (2024): 7575–7583.

[115] T. Liu, Y. Zhao, and T. Zhai, “Importance of the Catalyst-Water Coulomb Interaction for Oxygen Reduction Reaction Kinetics,” Energy & Environmental Science 17, no. 16 (2024): 6046–6057.

[116] X. Yang, J. Nash, N. Oliveira, Y. Yan, and B. Xu, “Understanding the pH Dependence of Underpotential Deposited Hydrogen on Platinum,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 58, no. 49 (2019): 17718–17723.

[117] J. Schaefer, G. Gonella, M. Bonn, and E. Backus, “Surface-Specific Vibrational Spectroscopy of the Water/Silica Interface: Screening and Interference,” Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics: PCCP 19, no. 25 (2017): 16875–16880.

[118] L. G. Pettersson, R. H. Henchman, and A. Nilsson, “Water-the Most Anomalous Liquid,” Chemical Reviews 116, no. 13 (2016): 7459–7462.

[119] Z.-H. Loh, G. Doumy, C. Arnold, et al., “Observation of the Fastest Chemical Processes in the Radiolysis of Water,” Science 367, no. 6474 (2020): 179–182.

[120] Y. Tian, Y. Song, Y. Xia, et al., “Nanoscale One-Dimensional Close Packing of Interfacial Alkali Ions Driven by Water-Mediated Attraction,” Nature Nanotechnology 19 (2024): 479–484.

[121] J. Carrasco, A. Hodgson, and A. Michaelides, “A Molecular Perspective of Water at Metal Interfaces,” Nature Materials 11 (2012): 667–674.

[122] F. J. Giessibl, “The qPlus Sensor, a Powerful Core for the Atomic Force Microscope Featured Available to Purchase,” Review of Scientific Instruments 90, no. 1 (2019): 011101.

[123] M. Flór, V. Vorobev, A. Bouchez, A. Marchioro, D. M. Wilkins, and S. Roke, “Quantifying Inter- and Intramolecular Interactions in Liquids With Correlated Vibrational Spectroscopy: Case Study of CCl₄ and CH₃CN,” Journal of Physical Chemistry B 130, no. 3 (2026): 1035–1044.

[124] C. Park, S. Ghosh, H. Forbert, and D. Marx, “Distinct Solvation Patterns of OH⁻ Versus H₃O⁺ Charge Defects at Electrified Gold/Water Interfaces Govern Their Properties,” Nature Communications 16 (2025): 8325.

[125] Y. Tao, K. A. Lorenz-Ochoa, L. Pan, Z. A. Al-Mualem, C. R. Baiz, and H. Ren, “Tuning the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Activity and Mechanism on Pt via Nano-Confinement of Interfacial Water,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 147, no. 33 (2025): 29977–29982.

[126] J.-B. Le, Q.-Y. Fan, J.-Q. Li, and J. Cheng, “Molecular Origin of Negative Component of Helmholtz Capacitance at Electrified Pt(111)/Water Interface,” Science Advances 6, no. 41 (2020): eabb1219.

[127] R. Ram, L. Xia, H. Benzidi, et al., “Water-Hydroxide Trapping in Cobalt Tungstate for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis,” Science 384, no. 6702 (2024): 1373–1380.

[128] J. Tao, B. Fang, Z. Fang, et al., “Micellar Brush-Directed Oxophilic Zr-Doped RuO₂ Nanoarrays for Durable Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 64, no. 43 (2025): e202512348.

[129] Y. Liu, A. Cao, B. Li, et al., “Ge-Doped RuO₂ for Stable and Active Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction,” Small 21, no. 49 (2025): e08783.

[130] Z. Wang, M. Wang, X. Li, et al., “Interfacial Trapping of Reactive Water and Concurrent Stabilization of Lattice Oxygen for Efficient Acidic Oxygen Evolution,” Nano Letters 25, no. 35 (2025): 13267–13275.

[131] L. Wu, W. Huang, D. Li, et al., “Unveiling the Structure and Dissociation of Interfacial Water on RuO₂ for Efficient Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 64, no. 1 (2025): e202413334.

[132] Y. Yao, S. Hu, W. Chen, et al., “Engineering the Electronic Structure of Single Atom Ru Sites via Compressive Strain Boosts Acidic Water Oxidation Electrocatalysis,” Nature Catalysis 2 (2019): 304–313.

[133] L. Wu, W. Huang, D. Li, B. Zhao, H. Zhou, and W. Luo, “Role of Interfacial Water in Improving the Activity and Stability of Lattice-Oxygen-Mediated Acidic Oxygen Evolution on RuO₂,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 64, no. 22 (2025): e202420848.

[134] S. Li, S. Zhao, S.-F. Hung, et al., “Oxophilic Sites Mediated Dynamic Oxygen Replenishment to Stabilize Lattice Oxygen Catalysis in Acidic Water Oxidation,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 147, no. 37 (2025): 33770–33779.

[135] C. T. Wolke, J. A. Fournier, L. C. Dzugan, et al., “Spectroscopic Snapshots of the Proton-Transfer Mechanism in Water,” Science 354, no. 6316 (2016): 1131–1135.

[136] T. Mou, D. A. Bushiri, D. V. Esposito, J. G. Chen, and P. Liu, “Inside Back Cover: Rationalizing Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction over IrO₂: Essential Role of Hydronium Cation,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 63, no. 48 (2024): e202409526.

[137] T. Liu, Y. Chen, Y. Hao, et al., “Hierarchical Anions at the Electrode–Electrolyte Interface for Synergized Neutral Water Oxidation,” Chem 8, no. 10 (2022): 2700–2714.

[138] F. K. Crundwell, “The Mechanism of Dissolution of Minerals in Acidic and Alkaline Solutions: Part I - A New Theory of Non-Oxidation Dissolution,” Hydrometallurgy 149 (2014): 252–264.

[139] H. Zhao, L. Zhu, J. Yin, et al., “Stabilizing Lattice Oxygen Through Mn Doping in NiCo₂O_4−x Spinel Electrocatalysts for Efficient and Durable Acid Oxygen Evolution,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 63, no. 20 (2024): e202402171.

[140] L. Deng, H. Chen, S.-F. Hung, et al., “Lewis Acid-Mediated Interfacial Water Supply for Sustainable Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 146, no. 51 (2024): 35438–35448.

[141] S. Zhu, R. Yang, H. J. W. Li, et al., “Reconstructing Hydrogen-Bond Network for Efficient Acidic Oxygen Evolution,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 63, no. 17 (2024): e202319462.

[142] C. Chen, H. Jin, P. Wang, et al., “Local Reaction Environment in Electrocatalysis,” Chemical Society Reviews 53, no. 4 (2024): 2022–2055.

[143] M. Joos, X. Kang, R. Merkle, and J. Maier, “Water Uptake of Solids and Its Impact on Ion Transport,” Nature Materials 24 (2025): 821–834.

[144] L. Wang, Y. Hao, J. Pan, et al., “Tailored Water-Surface Interactions on Cobalt Oxide for Stable Proton-Exchange-Membrane Water Electrolysis,” Nature Catalysis 9 (2026): 123–133.

[145] J. Zhu, X. Sun, N. Feng, et al., “Boosting Acidic Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysis by Engineering the Interfacial Water at the Electrified RuO₂-Electrolyte Interface,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 147, no. 51 (2025): 47454–47466.

[146] J. O. Bockris and T. Otagawa, “The Electrocatalysis of Oxygen Evolution on Perovskites,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society 131, no. 2 (1984): 290–302.

[147] Z.-Y. Yu, Y. Duan, Y. Kong, et al., “General Synthesis of Tube-Like Nanostructured Perovskite Oxides With Tunable Transition Metal-Oxygen Covalency for Efficient Water Electrooxidation in Neutral Media,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 144, no. 29 (2022): 13163–13173.

[148] S. Zhou, X. Miao, X. Zhao, et al., “Engineering Electrocatalytic Activity in Nanosized Perovskite Cobaltite Through Surface Spin-State Transition,” Nature Communications 7 (2016): 11510.

[149] J. Suntivich, K. J. May, H. A. Gasteiger, J. B. Goodenough, and Y. Shao-Horn, “A Perovskite Oxide Optimized for Oxygen Evolution Catalysis From Molecular Orbital Principles,” Science 334, no. 6061 (2011): 1383–1385.

[150] A. Grimaud, K. J. May, C. E. Carlton, et al., “Double Perovskites as a Family of Highly Active Catalysts for Oxygen Evolution in Alkaline Solution,” Nature Communications 4 (2013): 2439.

Rights & permissions

2026 The Author(s). Interdisciplinary Materials published by Wuhan University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.