Progress in carbon-based electrocatalyst derived from biomass for the hydrogen evolution reaction

[Display omitted] •Biomass derived carbon material is a potential electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution.•Metal-involved modification significantly enhanced the electrocatalytic activity of biomass-based carbon.•The challenges and future development of biomass-derived carbon applicated in hydrogen evolution are addressed. Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) involving electrocatalytic process is established as a promising and non-pollution method for hydrogen production. The cheap alternatives of precious-metal electrocatalysts with high activity and robust stability is essential for the high-scale application of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Recently, carbon-based electrocatalysts derived from biomass have attracted more and more attentions with thanks to their characteristics as low-cost, renewable, abundantly distributed and environmentally friendly. In this work, the original carbon material derived from biomass and the one doped with N and/or S as HER electrocatalysts are intensively overviewed regarding to the electrochemical performance and hydrogen yield. The overpotential at 10 mA cm−2 (η10) is generally greater than 100 mV, which is far inferior to Pt-based catalysts. Consequently, biomass-based carbon materials decorated by transition metal and/or trace amount precious metal were introduced for improving the HER performance. The synergistic effect between metals and heteroatoms can significantly enhance the electrocatalytic activity, and the smallest value of η10 is 10 mV. The limitations and challenges in this area were also addressed as (1) the in-depth investigation of conversion and electrocatalytic mechanism, (2) metal modification via in-situ growth, (3) the reproducibility for biomass transformation, and (4) the catalyst assembly with renewable energy equipment.