Nickel-doped tungsten oxide promotes stable and efficient hydrogen evolution in seawater

Hydrogen is considered as an efficient energy alternative, and the use of offshore wind power to electrolyze seawater to produce hydrogen will become the future model. Here, nickel-doped tungsten oxide is proposed to realize hydrogen production from seawater. Ni-WOx@NF was prepared experimentally, in which Ni was doped into WOx to replace part of the W sites. There is a volcanic relationship between the amount of Ni doping and the activity of the hydrogen evolution reaction. Particularly in alkaline seawater, Ni-WOx@NF only needs an overpotential of 45.69 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm-2 and exhibits stability over 120 h. In addition, theoretical calculations confirmed that Ni doping can optimize the activity of hydrogen evolution re-action. This work proposes that nickel doping can enhance the hydrogen evolution reaction activity of tungsten oxide with excellent corrosion resistance, enabling it to work efficiently and stably in alkaline seawater.

Automated summary

Hydrogen, as an efficient energy alternative, can be produced from seawater through electrolysis using offshore wind power. In this study, nickel-doped tungsten oxide (Ni-WOx@NF) was prepared to enhance hydrogen production from seawater. The amount of Ni doping was found to be directly related to the activity of the hydrogen evolution reaction. Notably, Ni-WOx@NF exhibited a low overpotential of 45.69 mV and maintained stability for 120 hours in alkaline seawater. Theoretical calculations further confirmed the enhanced activity of the hydrogen evolution reaction due to Ni doping. This work highlights the potential of nickel-doped tungsten oxide as an efficient and corrosion-resistant catalyst for hydrogen production in alkaline seawater.