Towards high-performance and robust anion exchange membranes(AEMs)for water electrolysis:Super-acid-catalyzed synthesis of AEMs

The increasing demand for hydrogen energy to address environmental issues and achieve carbon neutrality has elevated interest in green hydrogen production,which does not rely on fossil fuels.Among various hydrogen production technologies,anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer(AEMWE)has emerged as a next-generation technology known for its high hydrogen production efficiency and its ability to use non-metal catalysts.However,this technology faces significant challenges,particularly in terms of the membrane durability and low ionic conductivity.To address these challenges,research efforts have focused on developing membranes with a new backbone structure and anion exchange groups to enhance durability and ionic conductivity.Notably,the super-acid-catalyzed condensation(SACC)synthesis method stands out due to its user convenience,the ability to create high molecular weight(MW)polymers,and the use of oxygen-tolerant organic catalysts.Although the synthesis of anion exchange membranes(AEMs)using the SACC method began in 2015,and despite growing interest in this synthesis approach,there remains a scarcity of review papers focusing on AEMs synthesized using the SACC method.The review covers the basics of SACC synthesis,presents various polymers synthesized using this method,and summarizes the development of these polymers,particularly their building blocks including aryl,ketone,and anion exchange groups.We systematically describe the effects of changes in the molecular structure of each polymer component,conducted by various research groups,on the mechanical properties,conductivity,and operational stability of the membrane.This review will provide insights into the development of AEMs with superior performance and operational stability suitable for water electrolysis applications.

Electrochemical reconstruction of non-noble metal-based heterostructure nanorod arrays electrodes for highly stable anion exchange membrane seawater electrolysis

Direct seawater electrolysis for hydrogen production has been regarded as a viable route to utilize surplus renewable energy and address the climate crisis.However,the harsh electrochemical environment of seawater,particularly the presence of aggressive Cl^(-),has been proven to be prone to parasitic chloride ion oxidation and corrosion reactions,thus restricting seawater electrolyzer lifetime.Herein,hierarchical structure(Ni,Fe)O(OH)@NiCoS nanorod arrays(NAs)catalysts with heterointerfaces and localized oxygen vacancies were synthesized at nickel foam substrates via the combination of hydrothermal and annealing methods to boost seawater dissociation.The hiera rchical nanostructure of NiCoS NAs enhanced electrode charge transfer rate and active surface area to accelerate oxygen evolution reaction(OER)and generated sulfate gradient layers to repulsive aggressive Cl^(-).The fabricated heterostructure and vacancies of(Ni,Fe)O(OH)tuned catalyst electronic structure into an electrophilic state to enhance the binding affinity of hydroxyl intermediates and facilitate the structural transformation into amorphousγ-NiFeOOH for promoting OER.Furthermore,through operando electrochemistry techniques,we found that theγ-NiFeOOH possessing an unsaturated coordination environment and lattice-oxygen-participated OER mechanism can minimize electrode Cl^(-)corrosion enabled by stabilizing the adsorption of OH*intermediates,making it one of the best OER catalysts in the seawater medium reported to date.Consequently,these catalysts can deliver current densities of 100 and 500 mA cm-2for boosting OER at minimal overpotentials of 245and 316 mV,respectively,and thus prevent chloride ion oxidation simultaneously.Impressively,a highly stable anion exchange membrane(AEM)seawater electrolyzer based on the non-noble metal heterostructure electrodes reached a record low degradation rate under 100μV h-1at constant industrial current densities of 400 and 600 mA cm-2over 300 h,which exhibits a promising future for the nonprecious and stable AEMWE in the direct seawater electrolysis industry.

Electrochemical synthesis of trimetallic nickel-iron-copper nanoparticles via potential-cycling for high current density anion exchange membrane water-splitting applications

Hydrogen is known for its elevated energy density and environmental compatibility and is a promising alternative to fossil fuels.Alkaline water electrolysis utilizing renewable energy sources has emerged as a means to obtain high-purity hydrogen.Nevertheless,electrocatalysts used in the process are fabricated using conventional wet chemical synthesis methods,such as sol-gel,hydrothermal,or surfactantassisted approaches,which often necessitate intricate pretreatment procedures and are vulnerable to post-treatment contamination.Therefore,this study introduces a streamlined and environmentally conscious one-step potential-cycling approach to generate a highly efficient trimetallic nickel-iron-copper electrocatalyst in situ on nickel foam.The synthesized material exhibited remarkable performance,requiring a mere 476 mV to drive electrochemical water splitting at 100 mA cm^(-2)current density in alkaline solution.Furthermore,this material was integrated into an anion exchange membrane watersplitting device and achieved an exceptionally high current density of 1 A cm^(-2)at a low cell voltage of2.13 V,outperforming the noble-metal benchmark(2.51 V).Additionally,ex situ characterizations were employed to detect transformations in the active sites during the catalytic process,revealing the structural transformations and providing inspiration for further design of electrocatalysts.

Development of advanced anion exchange membrane from the view of the performance of water electrolysis cell

Green hydrogen produced by water electrolysis combined with renewable energy is a promising alternative to fossil fuels due to its high energy density with zero-carbon emissions.Among water electrolysis technologies,the anion exchange membrane(AEM) water electrolysis has gained intensive attention and is considered as the next-generation emerging technology due to its potential advantages,such as the use of low-cost non-noble metal catalysts,the relatively mature stack assembly process,etc.However,the AEM water electrolyzer is still in the early development stage of the kW-level stack,which is mainly attributed to severe performance decay caused by the core component,i.e.,AEM.Here,the review comprehensively presents the recent progress of advanced AEM from the view of the performance of water electrolysis cells.Herein,fundamental principles and critical components of AEM water electrolyzers are introduced,and work conditions of AEM water electrolyzers and AEM performance improvement strategies are discussed.The challenges and perspectives are also analyzed.

Durable poly(binaphthyl-co-p-terphenyl piperidinium)-based anion exchange membranes with dual side chains

Building well-developed ion-conductive highways is highly desirable for anion exchange membranes(AEMs).Grafting side chain is a highly effective approach for constructing a well-defined phaseseparated morphological structure and forming unblocked ion pathways in AEMs for fast ion transport.Fluorination of side chains can further enhance phase separation due to the superhydrophobic nature of fluorine groups.However,their electronic effect on the alkaline stability of side chains and membranes is rarely reported.Here,fluorine-containing and fluorine-free side chains are introduced into the polyaromatic backbone in proper configuration to investigate the impact of the fluorine terminal group on the stability of the side chains and membrane properties.The poly(binaphthyl-co-p-terphenyl piperidinium)AEM(QBNp TP)has the highest molecular weight and most dimensional stability due to its favorable backbone arrangement among ortho-and meta-terphenyl based AEMs.Importantly,by introducing both a fluorinated piperidinium side chain and a hexane chain into the p-terphenyl-based backbone,the prepared AEM(QBNp TP-QFC)presents an enhanced conductivity(150.6 m S cm^(-1))and a constrained swelling at 80℃.The electronic effect of fluorinated side chains is contemplated by experiments and simulations.The results demonstrate that the presence of strong electro-withdrawing fluorine groups weakens the electronic cloud of adjacent C atoms,increasing OH^(-)attack on the C atom and improving the stability of piperidinium cations.Hence QBNp TP-QFC possesses a robust alkaline stability at 80℃(95.3%conductivity retention after testing in 2 M Na OH for 2160 h).An excellent peak power density of 1.44 W cm^(-2)and a remarkable durability at 80℃(4.5%voltage loss after 100 h)can be observed.

Technical factors affecting the performance of anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer

Anion exchange membrane(AEM)electrolysis is a promising membrane-based green hydrogen production technology.However,AEM electrolysis still remains in its infancy,and the performance of AEM electrolyzers is far behind that of well-developed alkaline and proton exchange membrane electrolyzers.Therefore,breaking through the technical barriers of AEM electrolyzers is critical.On the basis of the analysis of the electrochemical performance tested in a single cell,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy,and the number of active sites,we evaluated the main technical factors that affect AEM electrolyzers.These factors included catalyst layer manufacturing(e.g.,catalyst,carbon black,and anionic ionomer)loadings,membrane electrode assembly,and testing conditions(e.g.,the KOH concentration in the electrolyte,electrolyte feeding mode,and operating temperature).The underlying mechanisms of the effects of these factors on AEM electrolyzer performance were also revealed.The irreversible voltage loss in the AEM electrolyzer was concluded to be mainly associated with the kinetics of the electrode reaction and the transport of electrons,ions,and gas-phase products involved in electrolysis.Based on the study results,the performance and stability of AEM electrolyzers were significantly improved.

Poly(Ionic Liquid) as an Anion Exchange Membrane for a 3.3 V Copper–Lithium Battery

Metal–metal battery bears great potential for next-generation large-scale energy storage system because of its simple manufacture process and low production cost.However,the cross-over of metal cations from the cathode to the anode causes a loss in capacity and influences battery stability.Herein,a coating of poly(ionic liquid)(PIL)with poly(diallyldimethylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide)(PDADMA^(+)TFSI^(−))on a commercial polypropylene(PP)separator serves as an anion exchange membrane for a 3.3 V copper–lithium battery.The PIL has a positively charged polymer backbone that can block the migration of copper ions,thus improving Coulombic efficiency,long-term cycling stability and inhibiting self-discharge of the battery.It can also facilitate the conduction of anions through the membrane and reduce polarization,especially for fast charging/discharging.Bruce-Vincent method gives the transport number in the electrolyte to be 0.25 and 0.04 for PP separator without and with PIL coating,respectively.This suggests that the PIL layer reduces the contribution of the internal current due to cation transport.The use of PIL as a coating layer for commercial PP separator is a cost-effective way to improve overall electrochemical performance of copper–lithium batteries.Compared to PP and polyacrylic acid(PAA)/PP separators,the PIL/PP membrane raises the Coulombic efficiency to 99%and decreases the average discharge voltage drop to about 0.09 V when the current density is increased from 0.1 to 1 mA cm^(−2).

Ternary layered double hydroxide oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalyst for anion exchange membrane alkaline seawater electrolysis

Anion exchange membrane(AEM)water electrolyzers are promising energy devices for the production of clean hydrogen from seawater.However,the lack of active and robust electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction(OER)severely impedes the development of this technology.In this study,a ternary layered double hydroxide(LDH)OER electrocatalyst(NiFeCo-LDH)is developed for high-performance AEM alkaline seawater electrolyzers.The AEM alkaline seawater electrolyzer catalyzed by the NiFeCo LDH shows high seawater electrolysis performance(0.84 A/cm^(2)at 1.7 Vcell)and high hydrogen production efficiency(77.6%at 0.5 A/cm^(2)),thus outperforming an electrolyzer catalyzed by a benchmark IrO_(2)electrocatalyst.The NiFeCo-LDH electrocatalyst greatly improves the kinetics of the AEM alkaline seawater electrolyzer,consequently reducing its activation loss and leading to high performance.Based on the results,this NiFeCo-LDH-catalyzed AEM alkaline seawater electrolyzer can likely surpass the energy conversion targets of the US Department of Energy.

Semi-interpenetrating network anion exchange membranes based on quaternized polyvinyl alcohol/poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)

The semi-interpenetrating network anion exchange membranes(AEMs)based on quaternized polyvinyl alcohol(QPVA)and poly(-diallyldimethylammonium chloride)(PDDA)are synthesized.The chemical cross-linking structure is formed between hydroxyl groups of QPVA and aldehyde groups of glutaraldehyde(GA),which makes PDDA more stable embed in the QPVA matrix and also improves the mechanical properties and dimensional stability of AEMs.Due to the phase separation phenomenon of AEMs swelling in water,a microporous structure may be formed in the membrane,which reduces the transmission resistance of hydroxide ions and provides a larger space for the transfer of hydroxide ions,thus improving the conductivity.The ring structure of PDDA is introduced as a cationic group to transfer hydroxide ions,and shields the nucleophilic attack of the hydroxide ions through the steric hindrance effect,which improves alkaline stability.The hydroxide conductivity of semi-interpenetrating network membrane(QPVA/PDDA0.5-GA)is 36.5 mS cm^(-1) at 60℃.And the membrane of QPVA/PDDA0.5-GA exhibits excellent mechanical property with maximum tensile strength of 19.6 MPa.After immersing into hot 3 mol L^(-1) NaOH solutions at 60℃ for 300 h,the OHconductivity remains 78%of its initial value.The semi-interpenetrating network AEMs with microporous structure exhibit good ionic conductivity,mechanical strength and alkaline durability.

The Influence of Various Cationic Group on Polynorbornene Based Anion Exchange Membranes with Hydrophobic Large Steric Hindrance Arylene Substituent

A series of brominated polynorbornene derivatives,including bulky steric hydrophobic groups and highly physical and chemical stable backbones,were synthesized via ring-opening metathesis polymerization and post-functionalized with trimethylammonium(QA),N-methylimidazole(Im),N-methylpyrrolidinium(Pyr)or N-methylpiperidinium(Pip)to construct the entire anion exchange membranes(AEMs).Benefited from prominent phase-separated morphology,PBO-x%-y(x=66,68,70;y=QA,Im,Pyr,Pip)AEMs with ion exchange capacity(IEC)approaching 2.0 meq·g^(−1)exhibited super high hydroxide conductivities.Thereinto,PBO-70%-Pip possessed the highest hydroxide conductivity of 137.3 mS·cm^(−1)at 80℃Moreover,all membranes exhibit low swelling ratio(SR)(the SR of PBO-66%-QA was just 8.6%at 80℃).That is,bulky steric hydrophobic groups play a crucial role in balancing the high hydroxide conductivity and low SR in AEMs.Furthermore,three AEMs(PBO-66%-QA,PBO-68%-Pyr,PBO-70%-Pip)showed good alkaline stability after immersion into 1.0 mol/L NaOH aqueous solution at 80℃for 480 h without any degradation.

Chloromethylation and Quaternization of Poly(aryl ether ketone sulfone)s with Clustered Electron-rich Phenyl Groups for Anion Exchange Membranes

Ion segregation is critically important for achieving high ion conductivity for anion exchange membranes(AEMs).Herein,a new bisphenol monomer bearing ten electron-rich phenyl groups was designed and polymerized with various amounts of electron-deficient 4,4′-dihydroxydiphenylsulfone and 4,4′-difluorobenzophenone to yield dense and selective reaction sites for chloromethylation and quaternization.As the most challenging step,chloromethylation was optimized by tuning the reaction temperature,reaction time,and reactant ratios.Ion exchange capacity,water uptake,anion conductivity,mechanical stability,and alkaline stability of the resulting AEMs were characterized in detail.It is found that chloromethylation reaction needed to be carried out at low equivalent of chloromethylation agents to avoid undesirable crosslinking.The QA-PAEKS-20 sample with an IEC of 1.19 mmol·g^-1 exhibited a Cl^–conductivity of 11.2 mS·cm^-1 and a water uptake of 30.2%at80°C,which are promising for AEM applications.

Synthesis and Properties of Quaternary Phosphonium-based Anion Exchange Membrane for Fuel Cells

Quaternary phosphonium-based polyelectrolyte was synthesized from bromomethylated poly（2,6-dimethyl-1,4- phenylene oxide） （BPPO） by functionalization with tris（2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl） phosphine （TTMPP）. Typically, excellent solubility of the polyelectrolyte in polar solvents, such as NMP and DMSO, allowed a solution-casting strategy for preparation of anion exchange membrane （AEM） with properly ordered hydrophilic/hydrophobic nano-scale phase separation morphology, which was visible in atomic force microscopic phase images. Accordingly, the optimized ionmeric AEM exhibited excellent hydroxide conductivity of 110 mS/cm at 70℃, but extremely re- stricted linear expansion ratio of below 7% at the same temperature. Additionally, such membrane could maintain flexibility and conductivity after an immersion treatment in 1 mol/L NaOH solution at 60 ℃ for about 100 h, im- plying its potential in alkaline fuel cells.

Preparation of click-driven cross-linked anion exchange membranes with low water uptake

Significant advancement in anion exchange membrane(AEM)fuel cell(AEMFC)technology is important in the field of renewable energy.AEMs with comb-shaped architectures have attracted considerable research interest because of some unique features,including high anion conductivity,low swelling,and high alkaline stability.Here,we report preparation,characterization,and performance evaluation of a novel comb-shaped cross-linked AEM synthesized by the thiol-ene click and Menshutkin reactions.The prepared ionomer decreases the trade-off between the water uptake and the conductivity.The thiol-ene click reaction was used to synthesize the 1,14-di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-6,9-dioxa-3,12-dithiatetradecane(IDDT)cross-linker.IDDT was then introduced into the brominated poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide)backbone by the Menshutkin reaction.The prepared ionomers show high thermomechanical stability,which is needed in AEMFC technology.The CLINK-15-100 membrane(ion exchange capacity 1.23 mmol/g)shows relatively good conductivities of 19.66 and 34.91 mS/cm at 30 and 60℃,respectively.Interestingly,the membrane shows water uptake of only 14.22%at room temperature,which is considerably lower than many previously reported membranes.After 16 days of alkaline treatment in 1 M NaOH solution at 60℃,the CLINK-15-100 membrane retains 77%of its initial conductivity,which is much better than the traditional quaternized poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide)membrane.

Toward alkaline‑stable anion exchange membranes in fuel cells:cycloaliphatic quaternary ammonium‑based anion conductors

Anion exchange membrane(AEM)stability has been a long-standing challenge that limited the widespread development and adoption of AEM fuel cells(AEMFCs).The past five years have been a period of exceptional progress in the development of several alkaline-stable AEMs with remarkable both ex situ and in situ AEMFC stability.Certain cycloaliphatic quaternary ammonium(cQA)(mainly five-and six-membered)based AEMs appear to be among those having the most promising overall performance.In this review,we categorize cQAs as cage-like(such as quaternized 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane,(QDABCO)and quinuclidinium),non-cage-like(such as pyrrolidinium and piperidinium)and N-spirocyclic(such as 6-azonia-spiro[5.5]undecane(ASU)).The degradation mechanisms of categorized cQAs are first elucidated.Through an understanding of how the cations are attacked by strongly nucleophilic OH–,improved structural design of incorporating alkaline-stable cations into AEMs is facilitated.Before a detailed description and comparison of the alkaline stability of cQAs and their respective AEMs,current protocols for the assessment of alkaline stability are discussed in detail.Furthermore,the initial AEMFC performance and fuel cell performance stability based on cQA AEMs are also examined.The main focus and highlight of this review are recent advances(2015–2020)of cQA-based AEMs,which exhibit both excellent cation and membrane alka-line stability.We aim to shed light on the development of alkaline-stable cQA-type AEMs,which are trending in the AEM community,and to provide insights into possible solutions for designing long-lived AEM materials.

Benzimidazolium Functionalized Polysulfone-based Anion Exchange Membranes with Improved Alkaline Stability

The stability of anion exchange membranes（AEMs） is an important feature of alkaline exchange membrane fuel cells（AEMFCs）, which has been extensively studied. However it remains a real challenge due to the harsh working condition. Herein, we developed a novel type of polysulfone-based AEMs with three modified 1,2-dimethylbenzimidazoliums containing different substitutes at C4-and C7-position. The results showed that the introduction of the substitutes could obviously improve the dimensional and alkaline stabilities of the corresponding membranes. The swelling ratios of resultant AEMs were all lower than 10% after water immersion. The membrane with 4,7-dimethoxy-1,2-dimethylbenzimidazolium group exhibited the highest alkaline stability. Only 9.2% loss of hydroxide conductivity was observed after treating the membrane in 1 mol·L^（-1） KOH solution at 80 °C for 336 h. Furthermore, the density functional theory（DFT） study on the three functional group models showed that the substitutes at C4-and C7-position affected the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital（LUMO） energies of the different 1,2-dimethylbenzimidazolium groups.

CO2 electrolysis at industrial current densities using anion exchange membrane based electrolyzers

Significant progress on electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) has been achieved in recent years.However,the research and development of electrolyzer device for CO2RR is scarce.Here we use anion exchange membrane to develop zerogap electrolyzers for CO2RR.The electrochemical properties of the electrolyzers with Pd/C and Cu cathodes are investigated.The Pd/C cathode shows a current density of 200 mA cm^-2with CO Faradaic efficiency of 98%and energy efficiency of 48.8%,while the Cu cathode shows a current density of 350 mA cm^-2with total CO2RR Faradaic efficiency of 81.9%and energy efficiency of 30.5%.This work provides a promising demonstration of CO2 electrolyzer using anion exchange membrane for CO2 electrolysis at industrial current densities.

Preparation of Anion Exchange Membrane Based on Imidazolium Functionalized Poly（arylene ether ketone）

The authors presented a novel synthetic route for the imidazolium functionalized poly（arylene ether ke- tone）s, derived from an engineering plastics polymer, a poly（arylene ether ketone） with 3,3＇,5,5＇- tetramethyl-4,4＇-dihydroxybiphenyl moiety（PAEK-TM）. The preparation of anion exchange membranes comprised converting benzylic methyl groups to bromomethyl groups by a radical reaction, followed by the functionalization of bromomethylated PAEK with alkyl imidazoles, i.e., methyl, butyl or vinyl imidazole. The structure of imidazolium functionalized PAEK was proved by 1H NMR spectra. A class of flexible and tough membranes was then achieved by subsequent film-forming and anion exchange processes. The water uptake and hydroxide conductivities of mem- branes are comparable or superior to those of quaternary ammonium（QA） anion exchange membranes. This work demonstrated a new route for non-QA anion exchange membrane design, avoiding the chloromethylation reagent and oreciselv controlling the degree and location of imidazolium grouos.

Molecular dynamics simulation of alkaline electrolyte diffusion in anion exchange membrane

During the operation of alkaline direct liquid fuel cells,the alkaline electrolyte is usually needed in the anode electrode to accelerate the electrochemical reaction kinetics of the liquid fuel.However,the crossover of the alkaline solution in the anode through the anion exchange membrane to the cathode can increase the transfer resistance of the oxygen in the cathode.In order to reduce the crossover of the alkaline solution,the diffusion process of the alkaline solution in the anion exchange membrane needs to be fully understood.In this work,interface models of anion exchange membrane-alkaline electrolytes are established based on the cell structure of the quaternary ammonium polysulfone(QAPS)membrane to simulate the dynamic process of the alkaline solution in the membrane.The effect of the type and the concentration of the alkaline solution on the transportation of the metal ions and OH^-in the membrane are studied.The results show that the agglomeration of Na+is formed more easily than K^+in the interface model.Because of the strong interaction of Na^+on OH^-,OH^-ions appear to be concentrated,resulting in that the diffusion coefficients of the metal ion and OH^-in the in Na^+solution are lower than those in the K^+solution.In addition,with the raised concentration of electrolyte solution,the aggregation degrees of the metal ions and OH^-can be increased,which means an enlarged mass transfer resistance of the components.Furthermore,by adding a polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE)layer on the QAPS membrane,the distribution of metal ions tends to be concentrated,and the number of hydrophilic channels in the QAPS membrane is reduced,which significantly increases the alkali resistance of the anion exchange membrane.

Anion Exchange Membranes Based on Chloromethylation of Fluorinated Poly（arylene ether）s

This report details the properties of fluorine-containing anion exchange membranes（AEMs） synthesized by chloromethylation and quaternization of fluorinated poly（arylene ether）s（FPAEs） based on decafluorobiphenyl and bisphenol A. Meanwhile, we compared their properties with those of their non-fluorinated counterparts, Udel-based AEMs. The reactivity of the chloromethylation of fluorinated poly（arylene ether）s was lowered by the strong elec- tron-withdrawing group, per-fluorinated biphenyl residue. Therefore higher temperature, more chloromethylation reagent, and longer reaction time were needed in the chloromethylation of FPAEs. Because of the hydrophobicity of fluorine, the swelling of FPAEs was depressed. In the FPAE-based AEMs, the water uptake of FPAE-1 membrane（F-1） was just 30%. There is a strong correlation between water uptake and conductivity for both Udel- and FPAE-based AEMs. Among all the membranes, the water uptake and the conductivity of FPAE-3 membrane（F-3） could reach up to 100% and 13.47 mS/cm respectively at 30 ℃. The mechanical properties of FPAE-based AEMs at room tempera- ture were worse than those of Udel-based ones because of the weak intermolecular interaction caused by the low po- larizability of fluorine. However, their high temperature mechanical properties are better, which can be explained in terms of low swelling.

Internal Polarization Field Induced Hydroxyl Spillover Effect for Industrial Water Splitting Electrolyzers

The formation of multiple oxygen intermediates supporting efficient oxygen evolution reaction(OER)are affinitive with hydroxyl adsorption.However,ability of the catalyst to capture hydroxyl and maintain the continuous supply at active sits remains a tremendous challenge.Herein,an affordable Ni2P/FeP2 heterostructure is presented to form the internal polarization field(IPF),arising hydroxyl spillover(HOSo)during OER.Facilitated by IPF,the oriented HOSo from FeP2 to Ni2P can activate the Ni site with a new hydroxyl transmission channel and build the optimized reaction path of oxygen intermediates for lower adsorption energy,boosting the OER activity(242 mV vs.RHE at 100 mA cm-2)for least 100 h.More interestingly,for the anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer(AEMWE)with low concentration electrolyte,the advantage of HOSo effect is significantly amplified,delivering 1 A cm^(-2)at a low cell voltage of 1.88 V with excellent stability for over 50 h.