Asymmetric Laplace Pressure-Mediated Multiphase Transport Decoupling for High-Current Density Water Splitting.

Abstract

Inefficient gas management remains a critical bottleneck limiting the scalability of water electrolysis for hydrogen production. Bubble adhesion on electrode surfaces blocks active sites, while gas accumulation in the bulk electrolyte disrupts ionic transport, collectively degrading electrochemical performance and operational stability. Conventional bubble-management strategies primarily accelerate bubble departure, whereas gas-diffusion architectures can provide preferential pathways for direct gas removal at the reaction interface. Here, we introduce a multiphase-orchestrated electrolyzer architecture that physically separates gas management from electrocatalysis by positioning a hollow, gas-permeable bladder adjacent to a conventional fully wetted electrode. Upon contact with the gas-venting layer, nascent bubbles experience a wettability-induced Laplace-pressure bias and are rapidly transferred into a dedicated gas conduit, truncating bubble growth while preserving liquid access to the electrode. This spatial division of function decouples gas evacuation from electrolyte replenishment without external pumping. Under identical conditions, the optimized RGT architecture achieves up to a 2.1-fold enhancement in current density in polarization measurements. The resulting modular framework provides an independently tunable strategy for regulating gas-liquid transport in water electrolysis and other gas-evolving electrochemical systems.