Interfacial Support Effects in Load‐Bearing Iridium Electrocatalysts for PEM Water Electrolysis: A Review

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is one of the core technologies for green hydrogen production. However, issues such as the slow kinetics of the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic media and poor electrode material stability limit improvements in this technology's efficiency and large‐scale application. Iridium‐based materials, as standard catalysts, still face key challenges, including high cost and insufficient activity. Recent research on support‐based iridium catalysts has made significant progress. Various structural forms of supported catalysts have been designed, effectively reducing iridium usage while maintaining catalytic activity. This paper reviews various support‐based iridium catalyst systems, analyzes the interaction mechanisms between the support and iridium metal, explores how these interactions regulate the reaction mechanism, and provides insights for the development of efficient and economical PEMWE systems.