Bifunctional Pt–Co3O4 electrocatalysts for simultaneous generation of hydrogen and formate via energy-saving alkaline seawater/methanol co-electrolysis. Issue 10 (11th February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xiang, Kun; Song, Zhongxin; Wu, Dan; Deng, Xiaohui; Wang, Xuewan; You, Wen; Peng, Zhikun; Wang, Lei; Luo, Jing-Li; Fu, Xian-Zhu
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 9:Issue 10(2021)
• Page Start: 6316
• Page End: 6324
• Publication Date: 2021-02-11
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/d0ta10501e
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : Hydrogen and valuable formate are simultaneously produced at low cell voltage from seawater splitting with the assistance of methanol selective oxidation to suppress the undesired oxygen/chlorine evolution over Pt-Co3 O4 bifunctional electrocatalysts. Abstract : Electrocatalytic seawater splitting has been considered as a transformative technology for industrial-scale hydrogen generation. However, the competition between the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and chlorine evolution reaction (CER) at the anode with sluggish kinetics is the main bottleneck. Herein, an organic-oxidation-assisted strategy has been demonstrated, in which the thermodynamically favorable methanol selective oxidation reaction (MSOR) is used to suppress the undesired OER/CER using carbon paper supported Pt–Co3 O4 electrocatalysts (denoted as Pt–Co3 O4 /CP), leading to hydrogen and value-added formate generation simultaneously with significantly low energy consumption. In the integrated two-electrode electrolyzer using Pt–Co3 O4 /CP bifunctional electrocatalysts, the required cell voltage at 10 mA cm −2 is only 0.555 V when adding 2.0 M methanol, which is 1022 mV lower than that in alkaline seawater. The integrated cell also produces hydrogen and formate simultaneously with high faradaic efficiency and considerable durability. The findings in this work represent a new direction for energy-saving production of hydrogen from seawater.