Electrochemistry has the potential to sustainably transform molecules with electrons supplied by renewable electricity. It is one of many solutions towards a more circular, sustainable and equitable society. To achieve this, collaboration between industry and research laboratories is a must. Atomistic understanding from fundamental experiments and modelling can be used to engineer optimized systems whereas limitations set by the scaled-up technology can direct the systems studied in the research laboratory. In this Primer, best practices to run clean laboratory-scale electrochemical systems and tips for the analysis of electrochemical data to improve accuracy and reproducibility are introduced. How characterization and modelling are indispensable in providing routes to garner further insights into atomistic and mechanistic details is discussed. Finally, important considerations regarding material and cell design for scaling up water electrolysis are highlighted and the role of hydrogen in our society’s energy transition is discussed. The future of electrochemistry is bright and major breakthroughs will come with rigour and improvements in the collection, analysis, benchmarking and reporting of electrochemical water splitting data.

电化学具有利用可再生电力提供的电子可持续地转化分子的潜力。它是实现更加循环、可持续和公平的社会的众多解决方案之一。为了实现这一目标，工业和研究实验室之间的合作是必须的。对基础实验和建模的原子理解可用于设计优化系统，而按比例放大技术设置的限制可以指导研究实验室中研究的系统。在本入门手册中，介绍了运行洁净的实验室规模电化学系统的最佳实践以及分析电化学数据以提高准确性和重现性的技巧。讨论了表征和建模在提供进一步了解原子和机械细节的途径方面是如何不可或缺的。最后，强调了有关扩大水电解规模的材料和电池设计的重要考虑因素，并讨论了氢在我们社会能源转型中的作用。电化学的未来是光明的，重大突破将伴随着电化学水分解数据的收集、分析、基准测试和报告的严格和改进而来。