An Integrated Stainless Steel-Based Electrode for Durable Direct Natural Seawater Electrolysis.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41588842.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1002/adma.202518307 and PMC identifier 12957875.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Direct seawater electrolysis for hydrogen production is hindered by severe catalyst inactivation and material corrosion caused by the complex composition of natural seawater. In this work, we demonstrate a multistage structure on a stainless steel (SS) substrate by integrating Pt atomic clusters (0.044 wt%) with a dense NiFe layer double hydroxides (NiFe-LDH) anticorrosive coating. The assembled seawater electrolyzer maintains durable operation for 600 h at a current density of 400 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> (∼2.04 V) and for 1000 h at 200 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> (∼1.78 V), while simultaneously achieving a cost reduction of more than 40% and ultralow energy consumption of 4.26 kWh Nm<sup>-3</sup> H<sub>2</sub>. Multiple in situ characterization results reveal that the adsorbed H<sub>2</sub>O molecules between the interface of Pt atomic clusters and NiFe-LDH could initiate a potential-driven dynamic transformation process from a 4 hydrogen-bond to a 0 hydrogen-bond coordination of H<sub>2</sub>O, thereby promoting their dissociation. Pt atomic cluster induces a configuration transformation of interfacial water from two-H down to two-H up and differentiates the adsorption energies between H<sub>2</sub>O and chloride ions, further optimizing selectivity. This work fully demonstrates the integrated design of catalysts, anti-corrosion coating, and porous transport layer, thereby offering an innovative and practical approach to direct seawater electrolysis.