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Efficient direct seawater electrolysers using selective alkaline NiFe-LDH as OER catalyst in asymmetric electrolyte feeds

Dresp, Sören; Thanh, Trung Ngo; Klingenhof, Malte; Brückner, Sven; Hauke, Philipp; Strasser, Peter

Direct seawater electrolysis faces fundamental catalytic and process engineering challenges. Here we demonstrate a promising seawater electrolyser configuration using asymmetric electrolyte feeds. We further investigated the faradaic O2 efficiency of NiFe-LDH in alkalinized Cl−-containing electrolytes in comparison to commercial IrOx-based catalysts. Other than IrOx, NiFe-LDH prevents the oxidation of Cl− and appears highly selective for the oxygen evolution reaction in alkalinized seawater even at cell potentials beyond 3.0 Vcell.
Published in: Energy & Environmental Science, 10.1039/D0EE01125H, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)