Ion Beam Engineering of Catalyst Modification for Water Electrolysis: Recent Achievements and Future Performance

Hydrogen production through water splitting is essential for clean energy conversion and environmental protection. Its effectiveness and practical use heavily depend on the catalyst materials’ intrinsic activity, stability, and cost. Recently, ion beam technology, as a novel, efficient, and controllable way to modify surfaces, has shown great promise for the precise design of catalytic materials with enhanced performance. This Review outlines the physical and chemical mechanisms behind modifying catalytic materials with ion beam techniques and examines how it improves the intrinsic activity, active site density, mass transfer efficiency, and stability of catalysts. Finally, we discuss current challenges in this field and potential future directions. This overview aims to provide both theoretical insights and practical guidance for designing high-performance durable electrocatalysts for industrial applications using advanced ion beam technologies.