Han Sanghwi, Kim Sungjun, Cho Hye Jin, Lee Jang Yong, Ryu Jaeyune, Yoon Jeyong
School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Institute of Chemical Processes, Seoul National University (SNU), Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Hydrogen Energy Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
Nat Commun. 2025 May 23;16(1):4803. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-60201-w.
Despite the wide array of oxygen evolution reaction active materials revealed thus far, challenges persist in translating their half-cell scale activities into scalable devices with long-term durability. Here, we present a dynamic polarization control for the continuous electrochemical activation of readily available Ni electrode anodes to achieve sustainable and scalable water electrolysis. Periodic application of a reductive potential between high current density cycles (0.5 or 1 A cm) is found to promote and maintain the oxygen evolution activity of Ni electrodes via the incorporation of Fe from KOH electrolytes. This transient polarization strategy successfully extends to an anion exchange membrane water electrolysis system, where a cell voltage of approximately 1.8 V is maintained for over 1000 h under 1 A cm. The scalability is further verified by the 25 cm 3-cell stack system, which lasts for 300 h with negligible voltage loss. Ultimately, this work highlights the power of the dynamic polarization strategy to regulate the dynamic nature of the oxygen evolution interface for sustainable and scalable water electrolysis.
尽管迄今为止已揭示出种类繁多的析氧反应活性材料，但将其半电池规模的活性转化为具有长期耐久性的可扩展装置仍面临挑战。在此，我们提出一种动态极化控制方法，用于对易于获得的镍电极阳极进行连续电化学活化，以实现可持续且可扩展的水电解。发现在高电流密度循环（0.5或1 A cm）之间周期性施加还原电位，可通过从氢氧化钾电解质中引入铁来促进和维持镍电极的析氧活性。这种瞬态极化策略成功扩展到阴离子交换膜水电解系统，在1 A cm下，该系统可在约1.8 V的电池电压下维持超过1000小时。25 cm³的三电池堆栈系统进一步验证了其可扩展性，该系统持续运行300小时，电压损失可忽略不计。最终，这项工作突出了动态极化策略在调节析氧界面动态性质以实现可持续且可扩展水电解方面的作用。
