Kim Nam In, Lee Jaehun, Jin Song, Jeong Jaehoon, Myeong Shin-Woo, Ha Jun Seok, Park Junyoung, Lee Hoseok, Park Minjeong, Kim Chiho, Kim Sungjun, Yang Seok Hwan, Park Yoo Sei, Lee Jooyoung, Lee Jang Yong, Seo Min Ho, Choi Sung Mook
Energy& Environment Materials Research Division, Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), Changwon, 51508, Republic of Korea.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Republic of Korea.
Adv Sci (Weinh). 2025 Sep;12(34):e02484. doi: 10.1002/advs.202502484. Epub 2025 Jun 9.
The demand for hydrogen production compels the development of various strategies for water splitting. Among these strategies, the Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer (AEMWE) offers the advantages such as low cost and the production of high-purity hydrogen. Waste alkaline water generated from various industries can be directly used in the AEMWE system, due to its appropriate pH range of 13-14. While various nickel-based hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts have demonstrated adequate performance, their long-term stability remains a concern. To ensure long-term stability of AEMWE, it is crucial to address the potential poisoning effects of impurities present in waste alkaline water on nickel-based HER electrocatalysts. In this study, the Ni-CeO₂/Carbon (NCC) catalyst is employed for HER in waste alkaline water containing Li, Mo, and W ions. NCC exhibited an overpotential of 31 mV, showing ≈3 times less overpotential compared to the Ni/C. The XPS results and DFT calculations demonstrated the electrons transferring from CeO to Ni, inducing the Electronic Metal-Support Interactions (EMSI) effects. The NCC shows 1 A cm at 2.03 V in AEMWE while Ni/C needed 2.33 V to achieve the same current densities. The NCC maintaines long-term stability over 2000 h, with a degradation rate of 4.95%.
制氢需求推动了各种水分解策略的发展。在这些策略中，阴离子交换膜水电解槽（AEMWE）具有成本低和能生产高纯度氢气等优点。由于其合适的pH范围为13 - 14，各行业产生的废碱性水可直接用于AEMWE系统。虽然各种镍基析氢反应（HER）电催化剂已表现出足够的性能，但其长期稳定性仍是一个问题。为确保AEMWE的长期稳定性，解决废碱性水中存在的杂质对镍基HER电催化剂的潜在中毒影响至关重要。在本研究中，Ni - CeO₂/碳（NCC）催化剂用于含Li、Mo和W离子的废碱性水中的HER。NCC的过电位为31 mV，与Ni/C相比过电位降低了约3倍。X射线光电子能谱（XPS）结果和密度泛函理论（DFT）计算表明电子从CeO转移到Ni，引发了电子金属 - 载体相互作用（EMSI）效应。在AEMWE中，NCC在2.03 V时的电流密度为1 A/cm²，而Ni/C需要2.33 V才能达到相同的电流密度。NCC在2000小时以上保持长期稳定性，降解率为4.95%。
