In situ fabrication of sporoid-like flexible electrodes via Fe-regulated electron density for highly efficient and ultra-stable overall seawater splitting

Rikai Liang; Jinchen Fan; Yanhui Guo; Xinke Huang; Fengjing Lei; Ding-Kun Ji; Weiju Hao

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.08.157

In situ fabrication of sporoid-like flexible electrodes via Fe-regulated electron density for highly efficient and ultra-stable overall seawater splitting

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Dec 15;652(Pt B):1170-1183. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.08.157. Epub 2023 Aug 26.

Authors

Rikai Liang¹, Jinchen Fan¹, Yanhui Guo², Xinke Huang¹, Fengjing Lei¹, Ding-Kun Ji³, Weiju Hao⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials and Chemistry, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, PR China.
² Department of Materials Science, Fudan University, Songhu Road 2005, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200433, PR China.
³ Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM), Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200240, PR China. Electronic address: dingkunji@sjtu.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Materials and Chemistry, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, PR China. Electronic address: wjhao@usst.edu.cn.

PMID: 37657217
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.08.157

Abstract

Construction of ultra-stable, flexible, efficient and economical catalytic electrodes is of great significance for the seawater electrolysis for hydrogen production. This work is grounded in a one-step mild electroless plating method to construct industrial-grade super-stable overall water splitting (OWS) catalytic electrodes (Fe₁-Ni₁P@GF) by growing loose and porous spore-like Fe₁-Ni₁P conductive catalysts in situ on flexible glass fibre (GF) insulating substrates with precise elemental regulation. Cost-effective Fe regulation boosts the electronic conductivity and charge transfer ability to achieve the construction of high intrinsic activity and strong electron density electrodes. Fe₁-Ni₁P@GF exhibits remarkable catalytic performance in hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction (HER and OER), providing current densities of 10 mA cm^-2 for HER and 100 mA cm^-2 for OER at overpotentials of 51 and 216 mV, respectively. Moreover, it achieves 10 mA cm^-2 at 1.42 V for OWS, and exhibits stable operation for over 1440 h at 1000 mA cm^-2 in quasi-industrial environment of 6.0 M KOH + 0.5 M NaCl, without any performance degradation. This strategy enables the preparation of universally applicable P-based electrodes (ternary, quaternary, etc.) and large-area flexible electrodes (paper or cotton), significantly expands the practicality of the electrodes and demonstrating promising potential for industrial applications.

Keywords: Fe precise regulation; Industrial-grade conditions; Large area efficient electrodes; Overall seawater splitting; Ultra-stable.