Surface Electrochemical Modification of a Nickel Substrate to Prepare a NiFe‐based Electrode for Water Oxidation

694

498

fossil fuels are being widely researched for the development of a sustainable energy system. Among the various candidates for green energy resources, hydrogen energy has been at the center of attention. [1,2] Hydrogen is both inexhaustible and environmentally friendly, because it can be produced from earth-abundant reactants such as water and methane and because no CO 2 or other toxic products are emitted during its conversion into other energy form such as electricity, respectively. Moreover, hydrogen can exhibit significantly larger energy density compared with other energy sources such as gasoline and coal. The most widely used method of hydrogen production today is steam reforming because of its low cost in the process. [3] Nevertheless, the release of carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide as byproducts in the steam reforming process diminishes the environmental merits of hydrogen energy. Thus, as a possible cleaner alternative, an electrolysis method that involves producing hydrogen by electrochemically splitting water has been extensively investigated. Using one of the most abundant resources, water, the production of hydrogen from it yields only oxygen as a byproduct.In the water electrolysis, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) occur simultaneously, as described by the following equationsIn order for the reaction to proceed, a voltage of 1.23 V is theoretically required between an anode and a cathode. However, an overpotential (represented by the symbol η) should be additionally applied to account for the potential loss resulting from kinetic limitations occurring during the electrochemical reaction. The use of electrocatalysts can lower the overpotential by kinetically facilitating the water-splitting reaction either in HER or OER. Due to the nature of four-electron involving OER, it is generally believed that the OER is much more sluggish than the HER; thus, the development of efficient OER Hydrogen is a promising alternative fuel for efficient energy production and storage, with water splitting considered one of the most clean, environmentally friendly, and sustainable approaches to generate hydrogen. However, to meet industrial demands with electrolysis-generated hydrogen, the development of a low-cost and efficient catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is critical, while conventional catalysts are mostly based on precious metals. Many studies have thus focused on exploring new efficient nonprecious-metal catalytic systems and improving the understandings on the OER mechanism, resulting in the design of catalysts with superior activity compared with that of conventional catalysts. In particular, the use of multimetal rather than single-metal catalysts is demonstrated to yield remarkable performance improvement, as the metal composition in these catalysts can be tailored to modify the intrinsic properties affecting the OER. Herein, recent progress and accomplishments of multimetal catalytic systems, including several important groups of catalysts: layered h...

Section: Nanostructured and Hybrid-structured Ldhmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Progress on Multimetal Oxide Catalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Kim

et al. 2018

694

498

“…The artificially synthesized Mn-based materials may provide platforms for the insightful understanding of the fast OER process in PS II. [159,160] The doping of Fe III can, in principle, induce oxygen vacancies for easier polaron hopping to the neighboring atoms, which brings about improved charge mobility. The composite consisting of Ni and Fe has been found to be highly active for OER in alkaline solutions since the 1980s, whereas their single metal counterparts are much less active.…”

Section: Wwwadvancedsciencenewscommentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar‐to‐Hydrogen Energy Conversion Based on Water Splitting

Zhang

Cao

2017

Self Cite

488

250

Artificial photosynthesis provides a blueprint to harvest solar energy to sustain the future energy demands. Solar‐driven water splitting, converting solar energy into hydrogen energy, is the prototype of photosynthesis. Various systems have been designed and evaluated to understand the reaction pathways and/or to meet the requirements of potential applications. In solar‐to‐hydrogen conversion, electrocatalytic hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions are key research areas that are meaningful both theoretically and practically. To utilize hydrogen energy, fuel cell technology has been extensively investigated because of its high efficiency in releasing chemical energy. In this review, general concepts of the photosynthesis in green plants are discussed, different strategies for the light‐driven water splitting proposed in laboratories are introduced, the progress of electrocatalytic hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions are reviewed, and finally, the reactions in hydrogen fuel cells are briefly discussed. Overall, the mass and energy circulation in the solar‐hydrogen‐electricity circle are delineated. The authors conclude that attention from scientists and engineers of relevant research areas is still highly needed to eliminate the wide disparity between the aspirations and realities of artificial photosynthesis.

“…[42,43] It is universally acknowledged that high surface area will contribute to the improved activity of catalysts. Also, the binders can decrease the contact area between electrolytes and catalysts and hampers the mass/ charge diffusion.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Monolithic Photoassisted Water Splitting Device Using Anodized Ni‐Fe Oxygen Evolution Catalytic Substrate

Dong

Song

Yoon

et al. 2017

Large‐scale industrial application of solar‐driven water splitting has called for the development of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts that deliver high catalytic activity and stability. Here it is shown that an efficient OER catalytic substrate can be developed by roll‐to‐roll fabrication of electrodeposited Ni‐Fe foils, followed by anodization. An amorphous oxyhydroxide layer directly formed on Ni‐Fe foils exhibits high catalytic activity toward water oxidation in 1 m KOH solution, which requires an overpotential of 0.251 V to reach current density of 10 mA cm–2. The developed catalytic electrode shows the best OER activity among catalysts with film structure. The catalyst also shows prolonged stability at vigorous gas evolution condition for 36 h. To demonstrate the monolithic photoassisted water splitting device, an amorphous silicon solar cell is fabricated on Ni‐Fe catalytic substrate, resulting in lowering OER overpotential under light illumination. This monolithic device is the first demonstration that the OER catalytic substrates and the solar cells are integrated and can be easily applied for industrial scale solar‐driven water electrolysis.