Ionomer-free nanoporous iridium nanosheet electrodes with boosted performance and catalyst utilization for high-efficiency water electrolyzers

Zhiqiang Xie; Lei Ding; Shule Yu; Weitian Wang; Christopher B. Capuano; Alex Keane; Kathy Ayers; David A. Cullen; Harry M. Meyer; Feng Yuan Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.apcatb.2023.123298

Ionomer-free nanoporous iridium nanosheet electrodes with boosted performance and catalyst utilization for high-efficiency water electrolyzers

Zhiqiang Xie, Lei Ding, Shule Yu, Weitian Wang, Christopher B. Capuano, Alex Keane, Kathy Ayers, David A. Cullen, Harry M. Meyer, Feng Yuan Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Increasing the catalyst utilization efficiency and simplifying electrode fabrication processes are crucial to accelerate development of low-cost proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs). Here, we develop a facile route to fabricate ionomer-free iridium nanosheet integrated electrodes, in which nanoporous iridium nanosheets (IrNS) with abundant exposed edges and nanopores are deposited on thin titanium liquid/gas diffusion layers (TT-LGDLs) via a low-temperature chemical synthesis strategy. Benefiting from high catalytic activity, good electrode conductivity and excellent liquid/gas transport properties, such nanoporous IrNS electrodes with low catalyst loadings require low cell voltages of 1.65 V and 1.78 V at 3000 and 6000 mA/cm², respectively. More impressively, a stable performance can be well maintained under extremely high current density tests of 5000 mA/cm², demonstrating the potential of low-loading nanoporous IrNS electrodes in solid-electrolyte based electrochemical conversion cells that require high current density operation.

Original language	English
Article number	123298
Journal	Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
Volume	341
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2023.123298
State	Published - Feb 2024

Funding

The authors greatly appreciate the support from U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Fuel Cell Technologies Office Award Number DE-EE0008426 and DE-EE0008423 and National Energy Technology Laboratory under Award DE-FE0011585. A portion of the research including STEM was supported by the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences ( CNMS ), which is a US Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The authors also wish to express their appreciation to Michael Koehler, Alexander Terekhov and Douglas Warnberg for their help.

Keywords

Green hydrogen production
Low catalyst loading
Nanoporous iridium nanosheets
PEM water electrolysis
Thin titanium liquid/gas diffusion layers

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.apcatb.2023.123298

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Xie, Z., Ding, L., Yu, S., Wang, W., Capuano, C. B., Keane, A., Ayers, K., Cullen, D. A., Meyer, H. M., & Zhang, F. Y. (2024). Ionomer-free nanoporous iridium nanosheet electrodes with boosted performance and catalyst utilization for high-efficiency water electrolyzers. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 341, Article 123298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2023.123298

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abstract = "Increasing the catalyst utilization efficiency and simplifying electrode fabrication processes are crucial to accelerate development of low-cost proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs). Here, we develop a facile route to fabricate ionomer-free iridium nanosheet integrated electrodes, in which nanoporous iridium nanosheets (IrNS) with abundant exposed edges and nanopores are deposited on thin titanium liquid/gas diffusion layers (TT-LGDLs) via a low-temperature chemical synthesis strategy. Benefiting from high catalytic activity, good electrode conductivity and excellent liquid/gas transport properties, such nanoporous IrNS electrodes with low catalyst loadings require low cell voltages of 1.65 V and 1.78 V at 3000 and 6000 mA/cm2, respectively. More impressively, a stable performance can be well maintained under extremely high current density tests of 5000 mA/cm2, demonstrating the potential of low-loading nanoporous IrNS electrodes in solid-electrolyte based electrochemical conversion cells that require high current density operation.",

keywords = "Green hydrogen production, Low catalyst loading, Nanoporous iridium nanosheets, PEM water electrolysis, Thin titanium liquid/gas diffusion layers",

author = "Zhiqiang Xie and Lei Ding and Shule Yu and Weitian Wang and Capuano, {Christopher B.} and Alex Keane and Kathy Ayers and Cullen, {David A.} and Meyer, {Harry M.} and Zhang, {Feng Yuan}",

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AU - Xie, Zhiqiang

AU - Ding, Lei

AU - Yu, Shule

AU - Wang, Weitian

AU - Capuano, Christopher B.

AU - Keane, Alex

AU - Ayers, Kathy

AU - Cullen, David A.

AU - Meyer, Harry M.

AU - Zhang, Feng Yuan

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N2 - Increasing the catalyst utilization efficiency and simplifying electrode fabrication processes are crucial to accelerate development of low-cost proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs). Here, we develop a facile route to fabricate ionomer-free iridium nanosheet integrated electrodes, in which nanoporous iridium nanosheets (IrNS) with abundant exposed edges and nanopores are deposited on thin titanium liquid/gas diffusion layers (TT-LGDLs) via a low-temperature chemical synthesis strategy. Benefiting from high catalytic activity, good electrode conductivity and excellent liquid/gas transport properties, such nanoporous IrNS electrodes with low catalyst loadings require low cell voltages of 1.65 V and 1.78 V at 3000 and 6000 mA/cm2, respectively. More impressively, a stable performance can be well maintained under extremely high current density tests of 5000 mA/cm2, demonstrating the potential of low-loading nanoporous IrNS electrodes in solid-electrolyte based electrochemical conversion cells that require high current density operation.

AB - Increasing the catalyst utilization efficiency and simplifying electrode fabrication processes are crucial to accelerate development of low-cost proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs). Here, we develop a facile route to fabricate ionomer-free iridium nanosheet integrated electrodes, in which nanoporous iridium nanosheets (IrNS) with abundant exposed edges and nanopores are deposited on thin titanium liquid/gas diffusion layers (TT-LGDLs) via a low-temperature chemical synthesis strategy. Benefiting from high catalytic activity, good electrode conductivity and excellent liquid/gas transport properties, such nanoporous IrNS electrodes with low catalyst loadings require low cell voltages of 1.65 V and 1.78 V at 3000 and 6000 mA/cm2, respectively. More impressively, a stable performance can be well maintained under extremely high current density tests of 5000 mA/cm2, demonstrating the potential of low-loading nanoporous IrNS electrodes in solid-electrolyte based electrochemical conversion cells that require high current density operation.

KW - Green hydrogen production

KW - Low catalyst loading

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KW - Thin titanium liquid/gas diffusion layers

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Ionomer-free nanoporous iridium nanosheet electrodes with boosted performance and catalyst utilization for high-efficiency water electrolyzers

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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