Abstract: As a kind of green and clean energy, hydrogen energy is known as one of the most promising alternative energy sources in the future. In recent years, hydrogen production from water electrolysis has received extensive attention. However, according to the thermodynamics and kinetics,the anode oxygen evolution reaction rate are slow, which severely restricts the hydrogen production efficiency in cathode. In addition, the value of the anodic product oxygen is much low. Based on the goal of improving efficiency and reducing costs for hydrogen production by water electrolysis, this article reviews the latest research progress of hydrogen production from the perspectives of high-efficiency catalyst designing for water electrolysis, seawater electrolysis for hydrogen production, and electrochemical hydrogen evolution coupled with oxidation. In particular, the influence of catalyst designing and system designing on the efficiency of hydrogen production is analyzed. Finally, the challenges and the future development direction of hydrogen production from water electrolysis are prospected, which is expected to provide some reference for the development of hydrogen production technology from water electrolysis.

Key words: hydrogen energy, water splitting, hydrogen evolution reaction, catalysts, coupling oxidation