Recent Progress in Non‐Precious Metal Single Atomic Catalysts for Solar and Non‐Solar Driven Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract It is of practical importance to develop efficient non‐precious metal hydrogen‐evolving catalysts for cost‐effective sustainable hydrogen production from water. In recent years, constructing single‐atomic catalysts (SACs) has been demonstrated to be an efficacious way to boost the catalytic activity of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts, although most of them are based on noble metals. Very recently, great advances have been achieved in noble metal‐free SACs by design of compatible material systems and implementation of novel synthetic strategies, which are determinative for the amount and pattern of metallic single atoms to be anchored on the supports and consequently the electronic states and coordination environment of the atoms. This progress report summarizes perspectives of compositions of the SACs with appropriate synthetic methods, and their relationships with the HER catalytic performance. In addition, some state‐of‐the‐art technologies, for example, in situ techniques, high throughput techniques, and machine learning, are suggested to help the design, preparation, and characterization of SACs.