Recent key engineering strategies of 2D materials in AEM water splitting applications

Sustainable hydrogen production is urgently needed to address the growing global energy demand while reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change. This need has driven extensive research into water electrolysis technologies, with anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) emerging as a promising alternative, as it can use cost-effective, earth-abundant catalysts to operate in alkaline conditions. Among various electrocatalyst materials, two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted significant attention due to their tunable electronic structures, large surface areas, abundant active sites and enhanced mass transport capabilities. This review highlights the recent advances in the structural and electronic engineering of 2D materials and their hybrids for AEMWE applications, focusing on key strategies of morphology control, heteroatom doping, alloying, heterostructure formation, and defect engineering. These approaches have improved catalytic activity, stability, and selectivity, thus overcoming major limitations of unmodified 2D materials. Despite notable progress, challenges remain related to enhancing long-term durability, understanding degradation mechanisms, and expanding the scope of underexplored 2D materials, like MXenes, MBenes, and black phosphorus. Future research integrating computational modeling with experimental studies will be critical to optimize catalyst design for industrial-scale applications. Through addressing these challenges, engineered 2D materials hold great potential to advance AEMWE technology, and facilitate scalable, cost-effective, and sustainable hydrogen production. • Structural engineering of two-dimensional (2D) materials for water splitting. • Effect of morphology and electronic modulation on catalytic performance. • Detailed analysis of electrochemical activity and stability toward AEM water splitting. • Challenges for boosting activity/durability and identifying mechanisms is discussed.