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A high-performance capillary-fed electrolysis cell promises more cost-competitive renewable hydrogen.

ABSTRACT: Renewable, or green, hydrogen will play a critical role in the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors and will therefore be important in limiting global warming. However, renewable hydrogen is not cost-competitive with fossil fuels, due to the moderate energy efficiency and high capital costs of traditional water electrolysers. Here a unique concept of water electrolysis is introduced, wherein water is supplied to hydrogen- and oxygen-evolving electrodes via capillary-induced transport along a porous inter-electrode separator, leading to inherently bubble-free operation at the electrodes. An alkaline capillary-fed electrolysis cell of this type demonstrates water electrolysis performance exceeding commercial electrolysis cells, with a cell voltage at 0.5 A cm^-2 and 85 °C of only 1.51 V, equating to 98% energy efficiency, with an energy consumption of 40.4 kWh/kg hydrogen (vs. ~47.5 kWh/kg in commercial electrolysis cells). High energy efficiency, combined with the promise of a simplified balance-of-plant, brings cost-competitive renewable hydrogen closer to reality.

SUBMITTER: Hodges A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8924184 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A high-performance capillary-fed electrolysis cell promises more cost-competitive renewable hydrogen.

Hodges Aaron A Hoang Anh Linh AL Tsekouras George G Wagner Klaudia K Lee Chong-Yong CY Swiegers Gerhard F GF Wallace Gordon G GG

Nature communications 20220315 1

Renewable, or green, hydrogen will play a critical role in the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors and will therefore be important in limiting global warming. However, renewable hydrogen is not cost-competitive with fossil fuels, due to the moderate energy efficiency and high capital costs of traditional water electrolysers. Here a unique concept of water electrolysis is introduced, wherein water is supplied to hydrogen- and oxygen-evolving electrodes via capillary-induced transport along a ...[more]

PMID: 35292657

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Project description:Platinum-nickel (Pt-Ni) nanowires were developed as hydrogen evolving catalysts for anion exchange membrane electrolyzers. Following synthesis by galvanic displacement, the nanowires had Pt surface areas of 90 m2 gPt-1. The nanowire specific exchange current densities were 2-3 times greater than commercial nanoparticles and may benefit from the extended nanostructure morphology that avoids fringe facets and produces higher quantities of Pt{100}. Hydrogen annealing was used to alloy Pt and Ni zones and compress the Pt lattice. Following annealing, the nanowire activity improved to 4 times greater than the as-synthesized wires and 10 times greater than Pt nanoparticles. Density functional theory calculations were performed to investigate the influence of lattice compression and exposed facet on the water-splitting reaction; it was found that at a lattice of 3.77 Å, the (100) facet of a Pt-skin grown on Ni3Pt weakens hydrogen binding and lowers the barrier to water-splitting as compared to pure Pt(100). Moreover, the activation energy of water-splitting on the (100) facet of a Pt-skin grown on Ni3Pt is particularly advantageous at 0.66 eV as compared to the considerably higher 0.90 eV required on (111) surfaces of pure Pt or Pt-skin grown on Ni3Pt. This favorable effect may be slightly mitigated during further optimization procedures such as acid leaching near-surface Ni, necessary to incorporate the nanowires into electrolyzer membrane electrode assemblies. Exposure to acid resulted in slight dealloying and Pt lattice expansion, which reduced half-cell activity, but exposed Pt surfaces and improved single-cell performance. Membrane electrode assembly performance was kinetically 1-2 orders of magnitude greater than Ni and slightly better than Pt nanoparticles while at one tenth the Pt loading. These electrocatalysts potentially exploit the highly active {100} facets and provide an ultralow Pt group metal option that can enable anion exchange membrane electrolysis, bridging the gap to proton exchange membrane-based systems.

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A high-performance capillary-fed electrolysis cell promises more cost-competitive renewable hydrogen.

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A high-performance capillary-fed electrolysis cell promises more cost-competitive renewable hydrogen.

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