Anion exchange membrane fuel cells are highly attractive as an efficient energy conversion device owing to the advantages of employing economic catalysts in alkaline electrolytes. However, the kinetics of the anodic hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) over metal-based catalysts becomes relatively sluggish in alkaline electrolytes in comparation with that in acid systems, due to the mismatched binding behaviors of reactants during HOR. To this end, we focus on the atomic design of metal-based catalysts with well-tuned binding behaviors of crucial intermediates for alkaline HOR. Recent papers are listed as follows:

1. Nanotwinning of the nickel nitride nanosheets for robust hydrogen oxidation electrocatalysis. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2026, DOI: doi.org/10.1002/anie.202525035.

2. Atomic-level insight into engineering interfacial hydrogen microenvironments of metal-based catalysts for alkaline hydrogen electrocatalysis. Energy Environ. Sci. 2025, 18, 5811.

3. Controlling the valence-electron arrangement of nickel active centers for efficient hydrogen oxidation electrocatalysis. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202206588.

Non-noble metal-based electrocatalysts for practical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) usually undergo ambiguous and restricted reaction paths with unsatisfied performance due to the dynamic coordination environments of active sites. Understanding and further regulating the coordination environments of metal active sites under catalytic OER condition is of significant importance to develop highly efficient and stable non-noble metal-based catalysts for practical water electrolysis. We focus on that issue and keep making progress. Recent papers are listed as follows: 

1. Engineering Co-ion vacancy in dynamically reconstructed Co-based catalysts for practical anion-exchange membrane electrolysis. Nat. Commun. 2026, DOI:10.1038/s41467-026-69547-1.

2. Localizing the long-range disorder of reconstructed cobalt oxyhydroxides for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 64, e202513592.

3. Isolated Pd atom anchoring endows cobalt diselenides with regulated water-reduction kinetics for alkaline hydrogen evolution. Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 2021, 295, 120280.