Zheng Liu#, Zhaoyu Liu#, Lingxing Zan, Yu Sun, Huizhen Han, Zhe Li, Han Wang, Ting Cao, Yao Zhu, Haiyang Lv, Yuxuan Liu, Juzhe Liu*, Xin Bo*, Molecules, 2024, 29, 5298. DOI:/10.3390/molecules29225298

NiFe (oxy)hydroxide has been widely used as a benchmark anodic catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline water electrolysis devices and can be achieved via in situ aging from the NiFe alloy, therefore, NiFe alloy monolithic electrodes can be directly installed in the industrial electrolyzer and the OER efficiency will spontaneously improve by aging. We simulated the industrial scenario and pointed out the energy saving actually takes contributions from both the anodic OER and cathodic HER (hydrogen evolution reaction). The coupled nickel cathode is contaminated, leading to the loss of HER activity and a reduction in overall efficiency. Ni²⁺ and Fe³⁺ cations are inevitably detached from the anode into the electrolyte and electrodeposited on the nickel cathode after the long-term industrial simulation. This research emphasizes that the catalytic application should not only be isolated on the half reaction, but a reasonable coupled electrode match to get rid of the contamination from the electrolyte is also of great significance to sufficiently present the intrinsic catalytic yielding for the real application.

First Authors: A/Prof. Liu Zheng, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences; Master’s candidate Liu Zhaoyu, Shaanxi Normal University

Correspondence Authors: A/Prof. Liu Juzhe, North China Electric Power University; A/Prof. Bo Xin, Shaanxi Normal University

Full Text Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29225298