Efficient bubble/precipitate traffic enables stable seawater reduction electrocatalysis at industrial-level current densities

作者：Jie Liang, Zhengwei Cai, Zixiao Li, Yongchao Yao, Yongsong Luo, Shengjun Sun, Dongdong Zheng, Qian Liu, Xuping Sun, Bo Tang · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-024-47121-x · 被引用次数：259 · 研究领域：Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion、Advanced battery technologies research、Hydrogen Storage and Materials

Abstract Seawater electroreduction is attractive for future H 2 production and intermittent energy storage, which has been hindered by aggressive Mg 2+ /Ca 2+ precipitation at cathodes and consequent poor stability. Here we present a vital microscopic bubble/precipitate traffic system (MBPTS) by constructing honeycomb-type 3D cathodes for robust anti-precipitation seawater reduction (SR), which massively/uniformly release small-sized H 2 bubbles to almost every corner of the cathode to repel Mg 2+ /Ca 2+ precipitates without a break. Noticeably, the optimal cathode with built-in MBPTS not only enables state-of-the-art alkaline SR performance (1000-h stable operation at –1 A cm −2 ) but also is highly specialized in catalytically splitting natural seawater into H 2 with the greatest anti-precipitation ability. Low precipitation amounts after prolonged tests under large current densities reflect genuine efficacy by our MBPTS. Additionally, a flow-type electrolyzer based on our optimal cathode stably functions at industrially-relevant 500 mA cm −2 for 150 h in natural seawater while unwaveringly sustaining near-100% H 2 Faradic efficiency. Note that the estimated price (~1.8 US$/kg H2 ) is even cheaper than the US Department of Energy’s goal price (2 US$/kg H2 ).