Materials Design and System Innovation for Direct and Indirect Seawater Electrolysis

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

65 Scopus Citations
View graph of relations

Author(s)

  • Wenjun He
  • Xinxin Li
  • Cheng Tang
  • Shujie Zhou
  • Xunyu Lu
  • Xue Li
  • Xiaoyuan Zeng
  • Peng Dong
  • Yingjie Zhang
  • Qiang Zhang

Related Research Unit(s)

Detail(s)

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)22227-22239
Journal / PublicationACS Nano
Volume17
Issue number22
Online published15 Nov 2023
Publication statusPublished - 28 Nov 2023

Abstract

Green hydrogen production from renewably powered water electrolysis is considered as an ideal approach to decarbonizing the energy and industry sectors. Given the high-cost supply of ultra-high-purity water, as well as the mismatched distribution of water sources and renewable energies, combining seawater electrolysis with coastal solar/offshore wind power is attracting increasing interest for large-scale green hydrogen production. However, various impurities in seawater lead to corrosive and toxic halides, hydroxide precipitation, and physical blocking, which will significantly degrade catalysts, electrodes, and membranes, thus shortening the stable service life of electrolyzers. To accelerate the development of seawater electrolysis, it is crucial to widen the working potential gap between oxygen evolution and chlorine evolution reactions and develop flexible and highly efficient seawater purification technologies. In this review, we comprehensively discuss present challenges, research efforts, and design principles for direct/indirect seawater electrolysis from the aspects of materials engineering and system innovation. Further opportunities in developing efficient and stable catalysts, advanced membranes, and integrated electrolyzers are highlighted for green hydrogen production from both seawater and low-grade water sources. © 2023 American Chemical Society.

Research Area(s)

  • chlorine evolution reaction, corrosive effect, green hydrogen, long-term stability, materials engineering, membrane-based reactor, oxygen evolution reaction, seawater electrolysis, seawater purification, selectivity

Citation Format(s)

Materials Design and System Innovation for Direct and Indirect Seawater Electrolysis. / He, Wenjun; Li, Xinxin; Tang, Cheng et al.
In: ACS Nano, Vol. 17, No. 22, 28.11.2023, p. 22227-22239.

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review