Spin-controlled electrocatalysis: an out-of-the-box strategy for the advancement of electrochemical water splitting

Spin-polarized catalysts have garnered significant interest in electrocatalysis, namely in the electrocatalytic oxidation of water, which has very sluggish kinetics due to its high overpotential. After the groundbreaking discovery that the electron's spin employing the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect can control the kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), numerous studies have been carried out to demonstrate the impact of electron's spin on reducing the overpotential of the OER. Apart from CISS, various magnetic materials have been explored as OER catalysts, and the outcomes are found to be very promising for the development of spin-based OER catalyst materials. This review highlights the remarkable journey of the evolution of the spin-polarized catalyst, starting from chiral materials to magnetic materials, which has happened in the last decade and its contribution toward the enhancement of OER kinetics, which is a very essential process for the advancement of renewable energy technologies.