Strategies of Anode Design for Seawater Electrolysis: Recent Development and Future Perspective

Abstract

Compared with freshwater splitting, seawater electrolysis has more spaces to be explored, which is primarily attributed to the additional critical catalytic challenges of the competition between anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and chlorine chemistry, deep corrosion, and site blocking due to the presence of chloride ions and insoluble particulate in seawater. However, if direct seawater electrolysis can be realized, it would revolutionize the energy and environmental sectors. In this review, the current effective strategies are summarized, including electronic modulation, oxygen vacancies creation, amorphous and porous structure design, corrosion-resistant passive layer decoration, and creating strong catalyst-support interactions. The review also provides insights for seawater electrolysis on rational design of the OER catalyst with high selectivity, activity, corrosion resistance, chemical, and mechanical durability. Beyond the progress made to date, a perspective in the fabrication of high-performance anodes for direct seawater electrolysis is also proposed. Collectively, this review will shed light on the rational design of a viable anode for massive and sustainable hydrogen fuel production from immense seawater.

Coupling Ferrocyanide-Assisted PW/PB Redox with Efficient Direct Seawater Electrolysis for Hydrogen Production

“…In neutral solutions, it has a reversible redox reaction at 0.46 V (vs SHE, Figure S1), corresponding to the reversible conversions of PW/PB. The oxidation potential of PW/PB is much lower than that of ClOR and OER, thus providing an opportunity to fully avoid harmful chlorine chemicals in seawater electrolysis and greatly reducing energy expense. , In this work, commercially purchased PB was used as the starting electrode. According to the XRD pattern of commercially purchased PB, all diffraction peaks are well matched to the standard values of the fcc phase of Fe 4 [Fe­(CN) 6 ] 3 (JCPDS card no.…”

Bubbles Templated Interconnected Porous Metallic Materials: Synthesis, Surface Modification, and their Electrocatalytic Applications for Water Splitting and Alcohols Oxidation

“…Many components have optimized adsorption energies for certain fundamental electrochemical reactions and would work in concert to improve the reaction's overall kinetics. [94] The arrangement of atoms at the heterointerface will differ from that of bulk materials due to the variation of chemical compositions and/or crystal structures, which could result in lattice strain, including tensile and compressive strain. The dband center model, first forth by Hammer and Noskov in 1995, is a standard theory for assessing catalytic activity and does a good job of explaining the stain effect.…”

“…In addition to conductivity, other characteristics can be adjusted, including hydrophilicity or aerophobicity, active site density, electrochemical stability, mechanical property, and mass transfer efficiency. Many components have optimized adsorption energies for certain fundamental electrochemical reactions and would work in concert to improve the reaction's overall kinetics [94] …”

Roles of Metal Oxide Nanostructure-Based Substrates in Sustainable Electrochemical Water Splitting: Recent Development and Future Perspective

“…For a fast rate of reaction, the electrode surface should have a feature of super-hydrophilicity and aerophobicity. Therefore, the surface structure of the TMO should be modulated to facilitate electrolyte penetration and gas desorption …”

“…Therefore, the surface structure of the TMO should be modulated to facilitate electrolyte penetration and gas desorption. 115 In addition to catalyst efficiency, durability is another important parameter to evaluate the practical viability of catalysts. Chemical and structural alterations of the catalyst during electrocatalysis at high anodic or cathodic potential deteriorate the long-term durability of the catalyst.…”