School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637459, Singapore.
Energy Research Institute@NTU, Interdisciplinary Graduate School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 637141, Singapore.
Adv Mater. 2018 May;30(18):e1707261. doi: 10.1002/adma.201707261. Epub 2018 Mar 22.
The implementation of water splitting systems, powered by sustainable energy resources, appears to be an attractive strategy for producing high-purity H in the absence of the release of carbon dioxide (CO ). However, the high cost, impractical operating conditions, and unsatisfactory efficiency and stability of conventional methods restrain their large-scale development. Seawater covers 70% of the Earth's surface and is one of the most abundant natural resources on the planet. New research is looking into the possibility of using seawater to produce hydrogen through electrolysis and will provide remarkable insight into sustainable H production, if successful. Here, guided by density functional theory (DFT) calculations to predict the selectivity of gas-evolving catalysts, a seawater-splitting device equipped with affordable state-of-the-art electrocatalysts composed of earth-abundant elements (Fe, Co, Ni, and Mo) is demonstrated. This device shows excellent durability and specific selectivity toward the oxygen evolution reaction in seawater with near 100% Faradaic efficiency for the production of H and O . Powered by a single commercial III-V triple-junction photovoltaic cell, the integrated system achieves spontaneous and efficient generation of high-purity H and O from seawater at neutral pH with a remarkable 17.9% solar-to-hydrogen efficiency.
在没有二氧化碳（CO ）释放的情况下，利用可持续能源资源实施水分解系统似乎是生产高纯度氢气的一种有吸引力的策略。然而，传统方法的高成本、不切实际的操作条件以及不尽如人意的效率和稳定性限制了它们的大规模发展。海水覆盖了地球表面的 70%，是地球上最丰富的自然资源之一。新的研究正在探讨通过电解利用海水生产氢气的可能性，如果成功，这将为可持续的氢气生产提供重要的启示。在这里，受密度泛函理论（DFT）计算预测析气催化剂选择性的指导，展示了一种配备由丰富元素（Fe、Co、Ni 和 Mo）组成的具有成本效益的最先进电催化剂的海水分解装置。该装置在海水中对析氧反应表现出优异的耐久性和特殊选择性，近 100%的法拉第效率用于生产 H 和 O 。由单个商业 III-V 三结光伏电池供电，该集成系统在中性 pH 值下从海水中自发且高效地产生高纯度 H 和 O ，太阳能到氢气的效率达到了显著的 17.9%。
