Work

High‐Efficiency Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis Employing Non‐Noble Metal Catalysts

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Alkaline anion exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolysis is a promising technology for producing hydrogen using renewable energies. However, current AEM electrolyzers still employ noble‐metal‐containing electrocatalysts, or have significant overpotential loss, or both. Here non‐noble‐metal electrocatalysts for both the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER and OER) are developed. Both catalysts are made of a same NiMo oxide. Judicious processing of these materials in a mixed NH 3 /H 2 atmosphere results in a NiMo‐NH 3 /H 2 catalyst, which has superior activity in HER, delivering 500 mA cm −2 at an overpotential of 107 mV. Doping Fe ions into the NiMo‐NH 3 /H 2 catalyst yields an Fe‐NiMo‐NH 3 /H 2 catalyst, which is highly active for the OER, delivering 500 mA cm −2 at an overpotential of 244 mV. These catalysts are integrated into an AEM electrolyzer, which delivers 1.0 A cm −2 at 1.57 V at 80 °C in 1 m KOH. The energy conversion efficiency at this current density is as high as 75%. This work demonstrates high‐efficiency AEM electrolysis using earth‐abundant catalytic materials.

Source: Advanced Energy Materials

DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202002285

Authors: Pengzuo Chen, Xile Hu

Institution: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Language: English

Topic: Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion

Subfield: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Field: Energy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: green

Funders: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, European Research Council