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Seed-assisted formation of NiFe anode catalysts for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis at industrial-scale current density

Nature Catalysis volume 7, pages 944–952 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Alkaline oxygen evolution reaction is critical for green hydrogen production from water electrolysis but encounters great challenges when operated at industry-required ampere-scale current densities, such as insufficient mass transfer, reduced catalytic activity and limited lifetimes. Here we develop a one-step seed-assisted heterogeneous nucleation method (25 °C, 24 h) for producing a nickel–iron-based electrocatalyst (CAPist-L1, where CAP refers to the centre of artificial photosynthesis) for robust oxygen evolution reaction at ≥1,000 mA cm−2. Based on the insoluble nanoparticles in the heterogeneous nucleation system, a dense interlayer is formed that anchors the catalyst layer tightly on the substrate, ensuring stable long-term durability of 15,200 h (>21 months) in 1 M KOH at 1,000 mA cm−2. When applying CAPist-L1 as the anode catalyst in practical anion exchange membrane water electrolysis, it delivers a high activity of 7,350 mA cm−2 at 2.0 V and good stability at 1,000 mA cm−2 for 1,500 h at 80 °C.

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Fig. 1: Preparation of OER catalyst CAPist-L1.
Fig. 2: OER performance of the CAPist-L1 evaluated in 1 M KOH.
Fig. 3: Observation of interlayer in CAPist-L1.
Fig. 4: Performance of the CAPist-L1//Ni4Mo/MoO2 AEM-WE electrolyser.

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Data availability

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFA0911902), National Natural Science Foundation of China (22088102) and the Research Center for Industries of the Future (RCIF) at Westlake University, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2022M712837 and 2023M733175). The authors thank X. Miao at the Instrumentation and Service Center for Physical Science (ISCPS) at Westlake University for her help with the in situ XRD analysis and Y. Ding at the Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels and the Department of Chemistry at Westlake University for his help in verifying the structure of CAPist-L1 from the point of view of theoretical calculation. We also acknowledge the support from the BL11B station in Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) for the X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Zhiheng Li, Gaoxin Lin.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels and Department of Chemistry, School of Science and Research Center for Industries of the Future, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China

    Zhiheng Li, Gaoxin Lin, Linqin Wang, Husileng Lee, Jian Du, Tang Tang, Guoheng Ding, Rong Ren, Wenlong Li, Xing Cao, Shiwen Ding, Wentao Ye, Wenxing Yang & Licheng Sun

  2. Institute of Natural Sciences, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, Hangzhou, China

    Zhiheng Li, Gaoxin Lin, Linqin Wang, Husileng Lee, Jian Du, Tang Tang, Guoheng Ding, Rong Ren, Wenlong Li, Xing Cao, Shiwen Ding, Wentao Ye, Wenxing Yang & Licheng Sun

  3. Division of Solar Energy Conversion and Catalysis at Westlake University, Zhejiang Baima Lake Laboratory Co. Ltd., Hangzhou, China

    Wenxing Yang & Licheng Sun

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Contributions

Conceptualization and methodology: Z.L. and L.S. Material—synthesis, characterization and test: Z.L., G.L., L.W., G.D., R.R., X.C., S.D., W. Ye and W. Yang. AEM—assemble and test: Z.L., H.L., J.D., T.T. and W.L. Data analysis: Z.L. and G.L. Supervision: L.S. Writing—original draft: Z.L. and G.L. Writing—review and editing: Z.L., G.L., W. Yang and L.S.

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Correspondence to Licheng Sun.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–40, Notes 1–7, Tables 1–3 and References 1–77.

Supplementary Data 1

Material characterization (for example, XRD, Raman, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, XPS, BET, ESCA, surface active sites, loading mass, grazing incidence XRD, XPS-etching and in situ XRD), electrochemical measurements (for example, LSV, CV and EIS) and other analysis (for example, bubble size statistic, bubble size distribution, loading force, pH test and ICP-MS) for the catalysts.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Nanoparticles statistics and XRD pattern analysis.

Source Data Fig. 2

OER activity and stability measurements of catalyst.

Source Data Fig. 4

AEM-WE activity and stability measurements.

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Li, Z., Lin, G., Wang, L. et al. Seed-assisted formation of NiFe anode catalysts for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis at industrial-scale current density. Nat Catal 7, 944–952 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-024-01209-1

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