A sea-change: manganese doped nickel/nickel oxide electrocatalysts for hydrogen generation from seawater

Lu, Xunyu; Pan, Jian; Tan, Tze Hao; Ng, Yun Hau; Amal, Rose

doi:10.1039/c8ee00976g

Cited by 207 publications

(144 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…and Mg 2+ , which are known to deposit at the cathode as hydroxides under reductive conditions, and current density losses of >50% have been reported due to salt deposition after short periods of operation (24 hours) 19,78 . The cathode surface can also be affected through reduction and electrodeposition of dissolved ions such as Cu, Cd, Sn and Pb under reaction conditions 79 .…”

Section: Both Saline and Surface Fresh Water Contain High Levels Of Umentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrolysis of low-grade and saline surface water

et al. 2020

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Powered by renewable energy sources such as solar, marine, geothermal and wind, generation of storable hydrogen fuel through water electrolysis provides a promising path towards energy sustainability. However, state-of-the-art electrolysis requires support from associated processes such as desalination of water sources, further purification of desalinated water, and transportation of water, which often contribute financial and energy costs. One strategy to avoid these operations is to develop electrolysers that are capable of operating with impure water feeds directly. Here we review recent developments in electrode materials/catalysts for water electrolysis using low-grade and saline water, a significantly more abundant resource worldwide compared to potable water. We address the associated challenges in design of electrolysers, and discuss future potential approaches that may yield highly active and selective materials for water electrolysis in the presence of common impurities such as metal ions, chloride and bio-organisms. Freshwater is likely to become a scarce resource for many communities, with more than 80% of the world's population exposed to high risk levels of water security 1. This has been recognized within the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) on Clean Water and Sanitation 2. At the same time, low-grade and saline water is a largely abundant resource which, used properly, can address SDG 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy as well as SDG 13 on Climate Action. Hydrogen, a storable fuel, can be generated through water electrolysis and it may provide headway towards combating climate change and reaching zero emissions 3 , since the cycle of generation, consumption and regeneration of hydrogen can achieve carbon neutrality. In addition to providing a suitable energy store, hydrogen can be easily distributed and used in industry, households and transport. Hydrogen, and the related fuel cell industry, has the potential to bring positive economic and social impacts to local communities in terms of energy efficiency and job markets; globally the hydrogen market is expected to grow 33% to US$155 billion in 2022 4. However, there are remaining challenges related to the minimization of the cost and integration of hydrogen into daily life, as well as meeting the ultimate hydrogen cost targets of

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Section: Both Saline and Surface Fresh Water Contain High Levels Of Umentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrolysis of low-grade and saline surface water

et al. 2020

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“…For HER in near neutral and alkaline media, Volmer process is always involved as the first step where the adsorbed water is electrochemically dissociated into H atoms and OH − ions (see details in the Supporting Information) . This process requires a substantial amount of activation energy thus results in relatively sluggish HER kinetics compared to that in acidic media . Oxygen‐vacancy‐enriched surface of catalysts can facilitate a facile water dissociation process, as the HO groups in water molecules tend to adhere to the oxygen‐vacancies and the H atoms adsorb on the top of the nearest surface O atoms .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Owing to the unique physical features (e.g., high conductivity and hierarchically porous structure), NF is widely used as the current collector to fabricate advanced electrodes for water splitting . However, it should be noted that the Ni element from the NF may also participate in the catalytic reactions when the frequent changes of polarity are applied on the electrodes to assess their reversibility, thereby complicating the system and rendering the origin of the catalytic activity questionable . To get rid of this concern, we further deposit the FeCoNi‐ATNs composite onto carbon cloth (FeCoNi‐ATNs/CC, see details in the Experimental Section) to analyze its reversibility as well as the OER and HER activities in 1 m KOH solution.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Fully Reversible Water Electrolyzer Cell Made Up from FeCoNi (Oxy)hydroxide Atomic Layers

Zhang

Bedford

Pan

et al. 2019

Advanced Energy Materials

Self Cite

115

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Renewable electricity powered water electrolysis is a promising solution for the conversion and storage of the intermittent renewable energy resources in the form of hydrogen. Herein, atomically thin FeCoNi ternary (oxy)hydroxide nanosheets (FeCoNi‐ATNs) are developed as efficient and robust bifunctional electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 1 m KOH solution (pH = 14). The electrocatalyst shows remarkably high apparent catalytic performance (400 mA cm−2 at 350 mV for OER and 240 mV for HER) and mass activities at modest overpotentials (1931 A g−1 at 330 mV for OER; 1819 A g−1 at 200 mV for HER). Moreover, the OER and HER performance of FeCoNi–ATNs are fully reversible and electrochemically switchable, due to the interconversion attribute of two catalytic states for OER and HER. Using the dual functional properties of this catalyst, a fully reversible water electrolyzer cell is fabricated, exhibiting a robust reversibility between two half reactions in water electrolysis under a high current density (100 mA cm−1), which can effectively overcome the stability issues caused by electrode depolarization during frequent power interruptions, an inevitable phenomenon commonly brought about by the usage of intermittent renewable energy supplies.

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“…Direct electrolysis of inexhaustible seawater, which holds over 96.5% of the plant's water resource, possess great promise in mass and low‐cost production of nearly infinite hydrogen energy without exacerbating global freshwater shortage and carbon emission . Utilizing neutral seawater allows the hydrogen production to be conducted in a mild and eco‐friendly way, which avoids the harsh conditions and acid fog contamination in traditional polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM)‐based or alkaline electrolyzer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Great efforts have been devoted to seeking for readily available and cost‐effective alternatives of Pt catalyst in terms of earth‐abundant metal alloys and compounds like the sulfides, nitrides, carbides, selenides, borides, and phosphides . Unfortunately, the HER activity of most available catalysts still cannot compete Pt in a wide pH range, and only a handful of them such as CoMoP@C, Ni‐Mo‐S/C nanosheets, nickel foam‐supported Mn‐NiO‐Ni, Co 9 S 8 , and Mo 5 N 6 can perform for HER in seawater in short term. At present, extreme lack of efficient electrocatalyst with low overpotential, long‐term durability, and high energy efficiency has become a critical bottleneck to scalable production and utilization of hydrogen energy from seawater.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering Multifunctional Collaborative Catalytic Interface Enabling Efficient Hydrogen Evolution in All pH Range and Seawater

Zhao

Wang

et al. 2019

Advanced Energy Materials

213

135

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Developing electrocatalysts with high compatibility to the reaction systems with complicated chemical properties represents an important frontier of catalyst design. Herein, a strategy by engineering a multifunctional collaborative catalytic interface to propel the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in the full pH range and seawater is reported. Collaborative catalytic interfaces among MXene, bimetallic carbide, and hybridized carbon are demonstrated to afford overall enhancement in electrical conductivity, exposure of reactive sites, water dissociation kinetics, H+/water adsorption, and intermediate H binding capability, which satisfy highly variable chemical environment for HER under different pH conditions. Therefore, the HER performance of resultant electrocatalysts can compete with commercial Pt/C in 0.5 m H2SO4 or 1.0 m KOH but outperform it under pH 2.2–11.2. They also show exceptional performance for HER in natural seawater with stringent requirements in catalytic activity and stability, exhibiting the best combination of Pt‐like activity, long durability (225 h, 64 times that of Pt/C), and 98% Faradaic efficiency, comparable with commercial Pt/C and the best documented electrocatalysts by far. This work may shed fresh light into the design of effective electrocatalytic interface for regulating the energy chemistry over wide operation conditions, and also inspires the exploration of hydrogen energy utilization technologies and beyond.

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A sea-change: manganese doped nickel/nickel oxide electrocatalysts for hydrogen generation from seawater

Abstract: The facile and scalable synthesis of manganese-doped nickel/nickel oxide heterostructures with high activity, outperforming the Pt benchmark, in neutral electrolytes.

Cited by 207 publications

References 70 publications

Electrolysis of low-grade and saline surface water

Electrolysis of low-grade and saline surface water

A Fully Reversible Water Electrolyzer Cell Made Up from FeCoNi (Oxy)hydroxide Atomic Layers

Engineering Multifunctional Collaborative Catalytic Interface Enabling Efficient Hydrogen Evolution in All pH Range and Seawater

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