Wood aerogel-derived sandwich-like layered nanoelectrodes for alkaline overall seawater electrosplitting

Abstract

Facile and controllable fabrication of eminently active and durable bifunctional catalysts for seawater electrolysis is significant for hydrogen production due to the shortage of freshwater resources. However, its implementation remains as a major challenge since the anodic reaction is sluggish. Here, we designed an artificial sandwich-like S,P-(Ni,Mo,Fe)OOH/NiMoP/wood aerogel electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The sample required low overpotentials of 297 mV for OER and 258 mV for HER to achieve 500 mA cm−2 in alkaline seawater. The features of the 3D wood aerogel, including open and well-aligned microchannels, large specific surface area, and good wetting ability, endow the as-synthesized electrocatalysts with impresive OER and HER activities. The two-electrode electrolyzer provides 500 mA cm−2 at 1.861 V for overall seawater electrolysis. This work opens new avenues for developing effective and robust OER/HER catalysts for seawater electrolysis, which significantly advances clean energy systems research.