Hydrogen Production Applications Research Articles

Integration of amorphous CoSnO3 onto wrinkled MXene nanosheets as efficient electrocatalysts for alkaline hydrogen evolution

Two-dimensional (2D) MXenes-based nanostructures have recently emerged as effective electrocatalysts because of their excellent electrical conductivity and superior hydrophilicity. Nevertheless, the low electrocatalytic activity and the poor stability have hampered their applications in practical hydrogen production. Herein, a novel method to modulate the electronic structure and improve the catalytic activity of MXene by integrating amorphous CoSnO3 onto wrinkled Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets is reported, producing a promising electrocatalyst (MXene@CoSnO3) toward alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). It is found that CoSnO3 nanocubes are well grown on the surface of Ti3C2Tx MXene, stabilizing MXene nanosheets against spontaneous oxidation. More importantly, the strong interfacial electronic coupling between the two components greatly prompts the redistribution of electrons at the MXene and CoSnO3 interfaces and alters the electronic structure around Co, which enables the activation of high-potential Sn to have an optimal *H adsorption (ΔG*H), promoting the H* conversion for HER. The fabricated MXene@CoSnO3 exhibits high alkaline HER performances with an ultralow overpotential of 45 mV at 10 mA cm−2, a small Tafel slope of 51 mV dec-1 and the long-term stability in 1 M KOH, which even compares with commercial Pt/C catalyst.

High-efficiency water splitting catalyzed by NiMoO4 nanorod arrays decorated with vacancy defect-rich NiTex and MoOy layers

Nickel molybdate is a promising non-noble metal candidate for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), but its insufficient activity due to its low conductivity and slow reaction kinetics hinders its application for large-scale commercial hydrogen production. Here, we report an efficient self-supporting electrocatalyst consisting of NiMoO4 nanorods modified by MoOy with abundant internal oxygen vacancies and epitaxially grown NiTex with high specific surface area for alkaline HER. Benefiting from the structural advantages of nanorods/nanosheets integrated electrode, a larger specific surface area and abundant active centers can be provided for the HER. Such constructed NiTex/MoOy/NiMoO4 catalyst achieves a low overpotential of 59 mV to drive a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a low Tafel slope of 32.8 mV dec−1 in 1.0 M KOH solution with sustainable durability. Additionally, a two-electrode electrolytic cell system assembled with NiTex/MoOy/NiMoO4 and NiMoO4 employed as cathode and anode, respectively, extraordinary performance with a voltage of 1.49 V at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 was achieved in alkaline electrolyte. This work demonstrates a novel idea for metalloid Te-modified transition metal oxides, which is expected to expand the family of stable and efficient transition metal oxide (such as CoMoO4, Co3O4, NiCo2O4, etc.)-based catalysts for energy electrocatalysis.

2D-2D heterostructure g-C3N4-based materials for photocatalytic H2 evolution: Progress and perspectives.

Photocatalytic hydrogen generation from direct water splitting is recognized as a progressive and renewable energy producer. The secret to understanding this phenomenon is discovering an efficient photocatalyst that preferably uses sunlight energy. Two-dimensional (2D) graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4)-based materials are promising for photocatalytic water splitting due to special characteristics such as appropriate band gap, visible light active, ultra-high specific surface area, and abundantly exposed active sites. However, the inadequate photocatalytic activity of pure 2D layered g-C3N4-based materials is a massive challenge due to the quick recombination between photogenerated holes and electrons. Creating 2D heterogeneous photocatalysts is a cost-effective strategy for clean and renewable hydrogen production on a larger scale. The 2D g-C3N4-based heterostructure with the combined merits of each 2D component, which facilitate the rapid charge separation through the heterojunction effect on photocatalyst, has been evidenced to be very effective in enhancing the photocatalytic performance. To further improve the photocatalytic efficiency, the development of novel 2D g-C3N4-based heterostructure photocatalysts is critical. This mini-review covers the fundamental concepts, recent advancements, and applications in photocatalytic hydrogen production. Furthermore, the challenges and perspectives on 2D g-C3N4-based heterostructure photocatalysts demonstrate the future direction toward sustainability.

Controllably constructed carbide/oxide heterointerfaces of molybdenum for efficient hydrogen evolution

The dependence of cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on noble metal catalysts is a critical challenge to realizing the industrial-scale application of hydrogen production from electrochemical water splitting. Due to the excellent water dissociation catalytic ability of Mo2C and the high HER catalytic activity of MoOx, Mo2C/MoOx heterointerfaces are controllably constructed via hydrogen peroxide oxidation of Mo2C to achieve improved HER catalytic performance. On the Mo2C/MoOx heterointerface, protons generated by the Mo2C sites via water dissociation can be immediately reduced by adjacent MoOx sites via the Volmer step to promote the overall HER kinetics. As a result, the rationally designed heterointerface-rich Mo2C-O catalyst exhibits great HER activity with a low overpotential of 115 mV to deliver 10 mA/cm2 current density. Along with great activity, the Mo2C-O catalyst also exhibits satisfying stability, confirming the promising application potential of the catalyst in industrial electrolysis systems.

Aquivion-based anion exchange membranes: Synthesis optimization via dispersant agents and reaction time

Alkaline membrane water electrolysis fed by renewable energy is a promising technology to produce “green” hydrogen for a variety of applications. Thanks to their unique characteristics of chemical, thermal and electrochemical stability, perfluorinated polymers are proposed as an alternative to hydrocarbon-based anion exchange membranes (AEMs) for applications in water electrolysers. A simple two-step functionalization reaction to introduce quaternary ammonium groups onto Aquivion® perfuorinated backbone is reported using a low toxicity dispersant. The most appropriate dispersant (Novec 7500) and reaction parameters (5 °C for 2 hrs) are selected. The complete conversion of the precursors into a quaternary ammonium salt is confirmed by a solid-state NMR study. Physico-chemical properties, thermal behavior and anion conductivity of the formed AEM are investigated. The phase separation characteristics of this perfluorinated polymer allow to reach a membrane ion mobility (μeff) 1.99 10−4 cm2 V−1 s−1, one order of magnitude higher than the FAA3-50 commercial membrane, meaning an enhanced ion dissociation. A very limited degradation of functional groups is demonstrated after immersion in alkaline solution, with only 2 % of ion exchange capacity (IEC) reduction against 14 % of the FAA3-50 commercial membrane. An electrolysis current density of 0.9 A cm−2 at 2.2 V and 90 °C, is achieved showing very promising applications for green hydrogen production.

CoSe2 nanocrystals embedded into carbon framework as efficient bifunctional catalyst for alkaline seawater splitting

Herein, CoSe 2 nanocrystals embedded into carbon framework grown on carbon cloth is developed to catalyze the overall seawater splitting. • CoSe 2 nanocrystals embedded into carbon framework is synthesized as bifunctional catalyst for overall seawater splitting. • The catalyst shows overpotentials of 245 and 134 mV for OER and HER to reach 10 mA cm –2 , respectively. • The catalyst can operate at 1.842 V with a current density of 500 mA cm -2 in a two-electrode electrolyzer and work for 50 h. Direct seawater splitting is more attractive and feasible in realizing hydrogen economy, but the key challenge lies in the development of efficient and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, CoSe 2 nanocrystals embedded into carbon framework grown on carbon cloth are successfully designed, featuring cooperative effect of CoSe 2 and nitrogen-doped carbon framework, which endow the excellent performance toward overall seawater splitting. The catalyst requires overpotentials of 245 and 134 mV for OER and HER to reach 10 mA cm –2 , respectively. Meantime, this catalyst also maintains robust electrocatalytic activity during over 50 h. Further, in the two-electrode alkaline seawater splitting electrolyzer, the catalyst shows a working voltage of 1.842 V to deliver 500 mA cm –2 at 80 o C, suggesting promising applications in sustainable hydrogen production. Our work may shed light on developing advanced and cost-effective electrocatalysts toward seawater splitting.

CdSe-Decorated Flowerlike CaMoO4 Microspheres with Enhanced Hydrogen Production Activity.

Photocatalytic hydrogen production technology from water is a more effective and promising method to solve energy and environmental crises. In this work, flowerlike CaMoO4 microspheres were successfully synthesized by an ultrasonic precipitation method and modified with variable concentrations of CdSe NCs. CdSe/CaMoO4 microspheres showed increased light absorption ability, larger relative surface area, lower electrochemical impedance, and longer fluorescence lifetime. The photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of CdSe/CaMoO4 microspheres could reach up to 10 162.33 μmol g-1 h-1. The constructed type-I heterostructure improved the separation of photogenerated electrons and inhibited the rapid recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes, thus enhancing the photocatalytic hydrogen production performance. CdSe/CaMoO4 with high hydrogen production activity would be an efficient photocatalyst for hydrogen production applications.

Fabrication of g-C3N4-reinforced CdS nanosphere-decorated TiO2 nanotablet composite material for photocatalytic hydrogen production and dye-sensitized solar cell application

Herein, a glib method to produce g-C3N4-reinforced CdS-modified anatase TiO2 is proposed. The CdS spheres broaden the visible region absorption spectrum of TiO2 and improve the charge-transfer mechanism by reinforcing it with g-C3N4. Thus, we aim to improve the photocatalytic efficiency using ternary photocatalyst. Powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy images are accomplished to characterize the components of a ternary composite. Ternary semiconductors possess a better photocatalytic activity in hydrogen production (233 μmol g−12 h−1) than other synthesized semiconductors. DSSCs are fabricated using the prepared electrodes as photoanodes and investigated using current density–voltage, the EQE, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The fabricated DSSC shows the highest overall conversion efficiency of 4.16%, open-circuit voltage of 0.75 V, and short-circuit current density of 10.17 mA/cm2. The heterojunction catalysts formed by semiconductors with matched bandgaps have enhanced photocatalytic ability and better solar cell performance.

Phase equilibrium in the hydrogen energy chain

• A thorough review on the whole hydrogen energy chain to figure out the potential existence of phase transition and application of phase equilibrium studies. • A thermodynamically-consistent flash calculation scheme to calculate phase equilibrium states with physical meanings. • Predictions of phase equilibrium states in practical hydrogen production, storage and transportation applications. • Suggestions to the hydrogen industry for different engineering purposes based on the phase equilibrium calculations. In this paper, a thorough review of the current state of the hydrogen phase equilibrium approaches is presented. Potential applications of phase equilibrium calculations for the accurate simulation of the entire process are then identified. Based on the first and second laws of thermodynamics, an advanced constant (N), volume (V), and temperature (T) (NVT) flash calculation scheme is developed for fluid mixtures containing hydrogen, which can be used to calculate the phase equilibrium for various feed compositions. We produce reasonable predictions of the phase transition under various environmental conditions for a number of engineering scenarios during the hydrogen production and storage processes, thus demonstrating the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed phase equilibrium calculation scheme.

Fabrication of a ZnO Hexagonal Plates/rGO Composite for Application in Nitrite Sensing and Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

AbstractRecently, design and fabrication of electrochemical sensors have received huge attention because of their high sensitivity, cost‐effectiveness, good selectivity, simple processing, and low detection limit. Herein, we have fabricated zinc oxide (ZnO) hexagonal plates/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite under benign approach. Different characterization techniques and approaches such as XRD, SEM, EDX, UV‐vis, and XPS were utilized to authenticate the formation and phase purity of ZnO/rGO composite. Further, we have modified active surface area (3 mm) of bare glassy carbon electrode using ZnO/rGO as electro‐catalyst (electrode material) for the construction of nitrite sensor. This modified electrode (ZnO/rGO/GCE) demonstrated low‐limit of detection (DL) of 0.1 μM with good sensitivity of 2.47 μA/μMcm2. Moreover, fabricated ZnO/rGO/GCE exhibited excellent selectivity, stability and repeatability towards the detection of nitrite. Additionally, ZnO/rGO was also applied as photo‐catalyst towards photo‐catalytic hydrogen (H2) generation. The ZnO/rGO showed good H2 generation rate of 650.3 μmolg−1h−1 compared to the pristine rGO or ZnO.

A review on S-scheme and dual S-scheme heterojunctions for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, water detoxification and CO2 reduction

Discovering alternative materials and technologies that provide the meaningful potential to environmental and energy-related challenges in critical to the long-term viability of industrial activity and the evolution of society. Photocatalysts are undeniably important, and scientists are working hard to improve their photocatalytic performance. The high recombination rates of photogenerated electron-hole pairs as well as poor redox capability are addressed via heterojunction modification. In this direction, oxidation type and reduction type photocatalysts based S-scheme heterojunctions are highly promising owing to highly diminished recombination facilitated by internal electric field. This review has focused on the shift from Z-scheme to new revolutionary S-scheme based photocatalytic materials with high performance applications in the field of energy and environment. It can be concluded that controllable built-in electric field intensity and stable interfacial carrier transport process make S-scheme heterostrctures ideal. However their application is mainly limited to powder photocatalysts, don’t apply to photo-chemistry and solar cells with external circuit, reaction thermodynamics and dynamics management in S-scheme photocatalysts is not adequate. To some extent, dual S-schemes address to these limitations and further research is to be carried out to fight the bottlenecks. Several perspectives on the future of S-scheme and dual S-scheme heterostructure were also provided based on rigorous review of the reported results.A discussion on the previously reported different types of heterojunctions and S-schemes is presented in this review along with plausible charge transfer mechanisms. The synthetic routes to S-scheme heterojunctions are also provided along with modifications and combinations. The current designing and perspective applications in numerous pollutant degradation, hydrogen production and CO2 conversion is selectively highlighted. The transition of mechanism elucidation from Z-scheme to S-scheme has been discussed with suitable case studies. However, S-scheme heterojunctions designing and fabrication is still new commercially and so present readiness and bottlenecks have been discussed. Hence it is quite imperative for a future roadmap to be laid to design and develop economically viable high performance S-scheme heterojunctions.

Thermally oxidized MoS2-based hybrids as superior electrodes for supercapacitor and photoelectrochemical applications

High electronic transport and reasonable chemical stability of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) make it very suitable for electrochemical applications. However, its energy storage capacity is still low compared with other nanostructures. In this work, pristine and thermally oxidized MoS2 (O@MoS2) based hybrids are introduced by a simple method with enhanced capacitive performance thanks to the contribution of synergistic effects. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), elemental mapping, UV-Visible, Raman, X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopies and BET specific surface area analyses are employed to investigate the morphological and crystalline structure of the introduced hybrids. In detail, the highest gravimetric capacitance of ∼205.1 Fg−1 is achieved for the MoS2:O@MoS2 hybrid with a mass ratio of 2:1 compared to pristine and other electrodes. This electrode is also accompanied by the longest discharging time and excellent cyclic stability of ∼%113 after 2000 continuous charge-discharge cycles. In addition, photoelectrochemical testing of the introduced electrode leads to a ∼63% increase in carrier photogeneration compared to MoS2 due to the effective charge separation within the hybrid, which makes it suitable for water splitting and hydrogen production applications.

(Invited) Low Temperature PEM Cells Leveraging Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Electrodes

Proton exchange membrane-based electrochemical devices have been growing in commercial relevance, from fuel cells for automotive and other vehicle applications to hydrogen production and energy storage applications. These membranes are highly versatile, able to operate with both vapor and liquid feed systems, different cation conductors, and with different redox chemistries such as for flow batteries. This talk will focus on electrolyzer advancements in PEM systems and related synergies with flow batteries and CO2 electrolysis, which each share an electrode with water electrolyzers.Renewable hydrogen generation is a key enabler for decarbonization. The need for a sustainable source of hydrogen has been widely recognized: carbon dioxide re-utilization requires hydrogen to make useful chemicals, and ammonia production is one of the largest industrial demands for hydrogen. Over 95% of hydrogen is currently made from fossil fuels, generating CO2 as a byproduct; this reality needs to change in order to reach sustainability. Currently, the only commercial options for hydrogen production from water are alkaline electrolysis and PEM electrolysis, which will need to be leveraged to make impact in the near term before less mature technologies like solid oxide electrolysis become viable at scale. PEM technology has considerable opportunity for cost reduction and performance improvement, based on many years of research and development in the related PEM fuel cells.To accelerate this progress in a still emerging market, enlarging the field by working in similar technology areas is helpful. Flow battery research based on hydrogen cells, such as hydrogen halide and hydrogen iron batteries, can validate low catalyst loadings for the hydrogen evolution electrode, and advance coatings for hydrogen embrittlement resistance. Similarly, carbon dioxide electrolysis involves reduction of carbon dioxide on one electrode, but splitting water to evolve oxygen at the other. As another area of research gaining significant interest, CO2 electrolysis can help enable advanced porous transport layer development and oxygen evolution catalyst advancements, and eventually help drive component volumes. In this talk, opportunities and progress benefitting these technologies will be discussed.

Hydrogen Production through Alkaline Electrolyzers: A Techno‐Economic and Enviro‐Economic Analysis

AbstractHydrogen production through an alkaline electrolyzer as well as a techno‐economic and enviro‐economic analysis are presented. The proposal of this innovative study is to generate hydrogen gas energy from an alkaline electrolyzer energy system. The prototype of this alkaline electrolyzer was developed by application of hydrogen production through alkaline electrolyzer optimization. This novel chemical mixture is made up from the combination of ammonia, ethyl alcohol, urea, and deionized or distilled water. The result proved to be a model study by emphasizing the annual profit of the alkaline electrolyzer of a simple payback period of the prototype system. A prototype of alkaline electrolyzer is designed and developed to produce oxyhydrogen gas through water electrolysis.

Performance Analysis of a Solar Heating Ammonia Decomposition Membrane Reactor under Co-Current Sweep.

Ammonia is an excellent medium for solar thermal chemical energy storage and can also use excess heat to produce hydrogen without carbon emission. To deepen the study of ammonia decomposition in these two fields, finite-time thermodynamics is used to model a solar-heating, co-current sweeping ammonia decomposition membrane reactor. According to the needs of energy storage systems and solar hydrogen production, five performance indicators are put forward, including the heat absorption rate (HAR), ammonia conversion rate (ACR), hydrogen production rate (HPR), entropy generation rate (EGR) and energy conversion rate (ECR). The effects of the light intensity, ammonia flow rate, nitrogen flow rate and palladium membrane radius on system performances are further analyzed. The results show that the influences of the palladium membrane radius and nitrogen flow rate on reactor performances are very slight. When the light intensity is increased from 500 W/m2 to 800 W/m2, the ACR, EGR, HAR and HPR increase obviously, but the ECR decreases by 14.2%. When the ammonia flow rate is increased by 100%, the ECR, EGR and HPR increase by more than 70%, the HAR increases by 15.6% and the ACR decreases by 12.9%. At the same time, the ammonia flow rate needs to be adjusted with the light intensity. The results can provide some guiding significance for the engineering application of ammonia solar energy storage systems and solar hydrogen production.

Metallic-phase of MoS2 as potential electrocatalyst for hydrogen production via water splitting: A brief review

Metallic polymorph of MoS 2 (1T-MoS 2 ) is an emerging and highly promising electrocatalyst owing to its high intrinsic conductivity, large interlayer spacing, hydrophilic surface, high specific surface area, faster in-plane charge transfer, and lower energy barrier for hydrogen adsorption and desorption. This article discusses a brief overview of electrocatalytic property evolutions of metallic 1T-MoS 2 for its application in electrocatalytic hydrogen production via water splitting. A summary is presented on various techniques that have been reported to date for developing the 1T-MoS 2 phase and their efficacy towards electrocatalytic hydrogen generation. This review also explains the thermodynamic parameter dependence of electrocatalytic enhancements of metallic MoS 2 with state-of-the-art theoretical reasoning and experimental details. The Gibbs free energy of adsorption/desorption of H 2 in 1T-MoS 2 is lower, and therefore outperforms electrocatalytic hydrogen production with respect to 2H–MoS 2 . The various engineering strategies, applied on the material, open avenues for systems devoted to water splitting. • Metallic polymorph (1T-MoS 2 ) of 2D-MoS 2 is an emerging and promising electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER). • 1T-MoS 2 exhibits lower Gibbs free energy of H 2 adsorption/desorption, thereby outperforms 2H–MoS 2 as electrocatalyst. • Various strategies are discussed for effective phase transition of 2D-MoS 2 from semiconducting (2H) to metallic (1T) MoS 2 . • Bandgap engineering, exposing active sites, and Fermi level alignment have shown extraordinary results for enhancing HER.

Visible-Light Photocatalytic Water Splitting and Norfloxacin Degradation by Reduced Graphene Oxide-Coupled MnON Nanospheres

Photocatalytic water splitting has gained considerable attention owing to the sustainable nature of hydrogen as a clean energy source alternative to fossil fuels. In this study, nanocomposites consisting of manganese oxynitride and reduced graphene oxide were synthesized by the combined involvement of a solvothermal process and Hummer’s method and examined for their photocatalytic applications for water splitting hydrogen production and degradation of norfloxacin as a model pollutant. Spectroscopic and structural analyses showed successful formation of the stable composite in which manganese oxynitride nanoparticles are decorated on graphene sheets. With increasing content of graphene oxide in the composite, it showed the enhanced photocatalytic efficiency in water splitting hydrogen evolution. This is well explained by the large surface area, more light absorption, and interfacial charge transfer in the composite photocatalyst. The hydrogen evolution rates of MnON nanoparticles and MnON/RGO composites of mass ratios 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 were measured as 250.1, 456.2, 543.6, and 708.5 μmol g–1 min–1, respectively, and the oxygen evolution rates were measured as 129.0, 229.4, 273.4, and 354.6 μmol g–1 min–1, respectively, suggesting the important roles of reduced graphene oxide. The photocatalysts also demonstrated enhanced stability and recyclability after multiple uses.

Tailorable Formation of Hierarchical Structure Silica (HMS) and Its Application in Hydrogen Production

Relentless endeavors have been committed to seeking simple structure-directing agents for synthesizing hierarchical mesoporous silica (HMS) materials but remaining challenges. In this contribution, we offered an improved one-pot hydrothermal route to prepare HMS materials using a single non-ionic triblock copolymer (F127) structure-directing agent under a mild polycarboxylic (citric acid) mediated condition. Via studies of key synthetic parameters including acid concentration, crystallization temperature and aging time, it was found that citric acid medium presents an important bridging effect under the optimal concentration from 0.018 M (pH = 2.57) to 1.82 M (pH = 1.09), contributing to the self-assemblage of partially protonated non-ionic triblock copolymer and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) into a high-quality multistage structure of silica materials. The specific surface area (SSA) of HMS shows a volcanic trend and is closely associated with the concentration of citric acid while the highest SSA of 739.9 m2/g can be achieved at the citric concentration of 0.28 M. Moreover, the as-synthesized HMS-CTA supported Ni/CeO2 catalysts indicate an excellent production of hydrogen through dry reforming of methane (DRM) reaction over 172 h stability. The improved, facile synthesis strategy under polycarboxylic medium displays an expanded perspective for synthesizing other mesoporous materials in a wide range of applications such as catalytic material carriers and drug inhibitors.

Bio-hydrogen production by dark anaerobic fermentation of organic wastewater.

Using organic wastewater to produce hydrogen by fermentation can generate clean energy while treating wastewater. At present, there are many inhibitory factors in the hydrogen production process, resulting in unsatisfactory hydrogen yield and hydrogen concentration during the fermentation process, and there are still great obstacles to the industrial promotion and commercial application of organic wastewater fermentation hydrogen production. This paper summarizes the hydrogen production of organic wastewater dark anaerobic fermentation technology. The current anaerobic fermentation hydrogen production systems and technologies are summarized and compared, and the factors and potential conditions that affect the performance of hydrogen production are discussed. The further requirements and research priorities for the market application of fermentation biohydrogen production technology in wastewater utilization are prospected.

Coupling of ruthenium with hybrid metal nitrides heterostructure as bifunctional electrocatalyst for water electrolysis

Noble metal-based materials are the benchmark catalysts for electrocatalysis, but their wide applications are hindered due to their scarcity and high cost. Developing a feasible strategy to achieve higher catalytic activity with low usage of noble metals is vital and urgent. Herein, a simple nitridation route is proposed to design a hybrid material with both ruthenium (Ru) species and mixed metal nitride matrixes (Ru-NiWNx). Benefitting from the intrinsic high conductivity of metal nitrides, abundant catalytic active sites, and strong electron interactions, the Ru-NiWNx catalyst shows excellent bifunctional activity in alkaline electrolytes. The overpotentials are 70 mV and 270 mV at the geometric current density of 100 mA cm−2 for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), respectively. After further assembly into an electrolyzer, the Ru-NiWNx also shows superior performance. The voltage of the electrolyzer only needs 1.49 V to reach 100 mA cm−2 at the test temperature of 80 °C, indicating the promising application for hydrogen production. Our work paves a new strategy to design high-active hybrid materials for overall water splitting.