Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Improved water electrolysis using magnetic heating of FeC–Ni core–shell nanoparticles

Abstract

Water electrolysis enables the storage of renewable electricity via the chemical bonds of hydrogen. However, proton-exchange-membrane electrolysers are impeded by the high cost and low availability of their noble-metal electrocatalysts, whereas alkaline electrolysers operate at a low power density. Here, we demonstrate that electrocatalytic reactions relevant for water splitting can be improved by employing magnetic heating of noble-metal-free catalysts. Using nickel-coated iron carbide nanoparticles, which are prone to magnetic heating under high-frequency alternating magnetic fields, the overpotential (at 20 mA cm−2) required for oxygen evolution in an alkaline water-electrolysis flow-cell was decreased by 200 mV and that for hydrogen evolution was decreased by 100 mV. This enhancement of oxygen-evolution kinetics is equivalent to a rise of the cell temperature to ~200 °C, but in practice it increased by 5 °C only. This work suggests that, in the future, water splitting near the equilibrium voltage could be possible at room temperature, which is currently beyond reach in the classic approach to water electrolysis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Principle of water electrolysis activated by the local heating of MNPs in an AMF.
Fig. 2: Response of a FeC–Ni-catalysed or a non-catalysed OER electrode to the AMF excitation.
Fig. 3: Improvement of HER and OER activities of FeC–Ni-catalysed electrodes under an AMF at various amplitudes.
Fig. 4: Improvement of the alkaline water-electrolysis voltage in an AMF of 48 mT.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ghoniem, A. F. Needs, resources and climate change: clean and efficient conversion technologies. Prog. Energ. Comb. Sci. 37, 15–51 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Schultz, M. G., Diehl, T., Brasseur, G. P. & Zittel, W. Air pollution and climate-forcing, impacts of a global, hydrogen economy. Science 302, 624–627 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Jacobson, M. Z., Colella, W. G. & Golden, D. M. Atmospheric science: cleaning the air and improving health with hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Science 308, 1901–1905 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Coughlin, R. W. & Farooque, M. Hydrogen production from coal, water and electrons. Nature 279, 301–303 (1979).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Karlsson, T. Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: A Clean, Real, and Global Opportunity (IPHE, 2016).

  6. Götz, M. et al. Renewable power-to-gas: a technological and economic review. Renew. Energy 85, 1371–1390 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Dunn, B., Kamath, H. & Tarascon, J. M. Electrical energy storage for the grid: a battery of choices. Science 334, 928–935 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Nakato, Y., Takamori, N. & Tsubomura, H. A composite semiconductor photoanode for water electrolysis. Nature 295, 312–313 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Khaselev, O. & Turner, J. A. A monolithic photovoltaic–photoelectrochemical device for hydrogen production via water splitting. Science 280, 425–427 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Katz, J. E., Gingrich, T. R., Santori, E. A. & Lewis, N. S. Combinatorial synthesis and high-throughput photopotential and photocurrent screening of mixed-metal oxides for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Energy Environ. Sci. 2, 103–112 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Tran, P. D., Artero, V. & Fontecave, M. Water electrolysis and photoelectrolysis on electrodes engineered using biological and bio-inspired molecular systems. Energy Environ. Sci. 3, 727–747 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. McCormick, A. J. et al. Hydrogen production through oxygenic photosynthesis using the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 in a bio-photoelectrolysis cell (BPE) system. Energy Environ. Sci. 6, 2682–2690 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Berger, A., Segalman, R. A. & Newman, J. Material requirements for membrane separators in a water-splitting photoelectrochemical cell. Energy Environ. Sci. 7, 1468–1476 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Mergel, J., Maier, W. & Stolten, D. in 20th World Hydrogen Energy Conference (WHEC 2014) 1165–1169 (Curran Associates, New York, 2015).

  15. Holladay, J. D., Hu, J., King, D. L. & Wang, Y. An overview of hydrogen production technologies. Catal. Today 139, 244–260 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Marini, S. et al. Advanced alkaline water electrolysis. Electrochim. Acta 82, 384–391 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Carmo, M., Fritz, D. L., Mergel, J. & Stolten, D. A comprehensive review on PEM water electrolysis. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 38, 4901–4934 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Xu, J. et al. Oxygen evolution catalysts on supports with a 3-D ordered array structure and intrinsic proton conductivity for proton exchange membrane steam electrolysis. Energy Environ. Sci. 7, 820–830 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hall, D. E. Alkaline water electrolysis anode materials. J. Electrochem. Soc. 132, 41C–48C (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Wendt, H. & Imarisio, G. Nine years of research and development on advanced water electrolysis. A review of the research programme of the Commission of the European Communities. J. Appl. Electrochem. 18, 1–14 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Singh, R. N., Mishra, D., Anindita, S., Sinha, A. S. K. & Singh, A. Novel electrocatalysts for generating oxygen from alkaline water electrolysis. Electrochem. Commun. 9, 1369–1373 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Bates, M. K., Jia, Q., Doan, H., Liang, W. & Mukerjee, S. Charge-transfer effects in Ni–Fe and Ni–Fe–Co mixed-metal oxides for the alkaline oxygen evolution reaction. ACS Catal. 6, 155–161 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Detsi, E. et al. Mesoporous Ni60Fe30Mn10-alloy based metal/metal oxide composite thick films as highly active and robust oxygen evolution catalysts. Energy Environ. Sci. 9, 540–549 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Li, J. et al. Highly efficient and robust nickel phosphides as bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water-splitting. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 8, 10826–10834 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Wang, T., Wang, X., Liu, Y., Zheng, J. & Li, X. A highly efficient and stable biphasic nanocrystalline Ni–Mo–N catalyst for hydrogen evolution in both acidic and alkaline electrolytes. Nano Energy 22, 111–119 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Cui, X., Ren, P., Deng, D., Deng, J. & Bao, X. Single layer graphene encapsulating non-precious metals as high-performance electrocatalysts for water oxidation. Energy Environ. Sci. 9, 123–129 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Divisek, J., Mergel, J. & Schmitz, H. Improvement of water electrolysis in alkaline media at intermediate temperatures. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 7, 695–701 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Meffre, A. et al. A simple chemical route toward monodisperse iron carbide nanoparticles displaying tunable magnetic and unprecedented hyperthermia properties. Nano Lett. 12, 4722–4728 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Goya, G. F., Asín, L. & Ibarra, M. R. Cell death induced by AC magnetic fields and magnetic nanoparticles: current state and perspectives. Int. J. Hyperth. 29, 810–818 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Huang, H., Delikanli, S., Zeng, H., Ferkey, D. M. & Pralle, A. Remote control of ion channels and neurons through magnetic-field heating of nanoparticles. Nat. Nano 5, 602–606 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Périgo, E. A. et al. Fundamentals and advances in magnetic hyperthermia. Appl. Phys. Rev. 2, 041302 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Piñol, R. et al. Joining time-resolved thermometry and magnetic-induced heating in a single nanoparticle unveils intriguing thermal properties. ACS Nano 9, 3134–3142 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Riedinger, A. et al. Subnanometer local temperature probing and remotely controlled drug release based on azo-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles. Nano Lett. 13, 2399–2406 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Meffre, A. et al. Complex nano-objects displaying both magnetic and catalytic properties: a proof of concept for magnetically induced heterogeneous catalysis. Nano Lett. 15, 3241–3248 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Bordet, A. et al. Magnetically induced continuous CO2 hydrogenation using composite iron carbide nanoparticles of exceptionally high heating power. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 55, 15894–15898 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Bordet, A., Lacroix, L. M., Soulantica, K. & Chaudret, B. A new approach to the mechanism of Fischer–Tropsch syntheses arising from gas phase NMR and mass spectrometry. ChemCatChem 8, 1727–1731 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Arteaga-Cardona, F. et al. Improving the magnetic heating by disaggregating nanoparticles. J. Alloy. Compd 663, 636–644 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Park, S., Shao, Y., Liu, J. & Wang, Y. Oxygen electrocatalysts for water electrolyzers and reversible fuel cells: status and perspective. Energy Environ. Sci. 5, 9331–9344 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Ross, P. N. & Sokol, H. The corrosion of carbon-black anodes in alkaline electrolyte. 1. Acetylene black and the effect of cobalt catalyzation. J. Electrochem. Soc. 131, 1742–1750 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Sattler, M. L. & Ross, P. N. The surface structure of Pt crystallites supported on carbon black. Ultramicroscopy 20, 21–28 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Staud, N. & Ross, P. N. The corrosion of carbon-black anodes in alkaline electrolyte. 2. Acetylene black and the effect of oxygen evolution catalysts on corrosion. J. Electrochem. Soc. 133, 1079–1084 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Ross, P. N. & Sattler, M. The corrosion of carbon-black anodes in alkaline electrolyte. 3. The effect of graphitization on the corrosion-resistance of furnace blacks. J. Electrochem. Soc. 135, 1464–1470 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Staud, N., Sokol, H. & Ross, P. N. The corrosion of carbon-black anodes in alkaline electrolyte. 4. Current efficiencies for oxygen evolution from metal oxide-impregnated graphitized furnace blacks. J. Electrochem. Soc. 136, 3570–3576 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Miles, M. H., Kissel, G., Lu, P. W. T. & Srinivasan, S. Effect of temperature on electrode kinetic parameters for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions on nickel electrodes in alkaline solutions. J. Electrochem. Soc. 123, 332–336 (1976).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Akamoto, H. The C–Fe (carbon-iron) system. J. Phase Equilibria 13, 543–565 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Engie and its scientific director J.-P. Reich for its willingness to explore breakthrough technologies and funding the present feasibility study in 2016, in which we explored magnetic heating-improved alkaline water electrolysis. The electrochemical characterizations were performed at LEPMI, within the framework of the Centre of Excellence of Multifunctional Architectured Materials (CEMAM no. AN-10-LABX-44-01). M.C. also thanks the IUF for funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

C.N. contributed to the experimental work, data analysis and writing of the manuscript. S.F. contributed to the experimental work and review of the manuscript. A.B. contributed to the experimental work. J.D. contributed to the project planning, experimental work, data analysis and writing of the manuscript. M.C. contributed to the project planning, experimental work, data analysis and writing of the manuscript. J.C. contributed to the data analysis and writing of the manuscript. B.C. contributed to the project planning, data analysis and writing of the manuscript. A.R. had the original idea of the study, and contributed to the project planning and review of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Marian Chatenet or Julian Carrey.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figures 1–13, Supplementary Tables 1–4 and Supplementary References

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Niether, C., Faure, S., Bordet, A. et al. Improved water electrolysis using magnetic heating of FeC–Ni core–shell nanoparticles. Nat Energy 3, 476–483 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-018-0132-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-018-0132-1

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing