Highly efficient and stable oxygen evolution from seawater enabled by a hierarchical NiMoSx microcolumn@NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanosheet array

Developing efficient and robust oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts in seawater is important for green hydrogen generation but remains a significant challenge. Herein, we report a hierarchical core-shell OER electrocatalyst consisting of NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanosheets uniformly coated on a NiMoSx microcolumn supported on Ni foam (NiMoSx@NiFe-LDH/NF). Such NiMoSx@NiFe-LDH/NF shows excellent OER activity with a low overpotential of 297 mV to drive an industrial-level current density of 500 mA cm(-2) in alkaline seawater and can operate continuously for 500 h without apparent activity degradation. In situ Raman spectroscopy studies indicate that the high-valent molybdate ions can promote the generation of disordered NiOOH active species and protect catalysts from Cl- corrosion during seawater oxidation. Additionally, the integrated alkaline seawater electrolyzer (with NiMoSx/NF as the cathode) is demonstrated to reach a current density of 100 mA cm(-2) with a low voltage of 1.61 V, outperforming the benchmark Pt/C/NF||RuO2/NF.

Automated summary

A hierarchical core-shell catalyst consisting of NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanosheets and NiMoSx microcolumn has been developed for efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in seawater. The catalyst exhibits excellent OER activity with a low overpotential of 297 mV and can operate continuously for 500 hours without activity degradation in alkaline seawater. In situ Raman spectroscopy studies reveal the role of high-valent molybdate ions in promoting the generation of active NiOOH species and protecting the catalyst from Cl- corrosion during seawater oxidation. Furthermore, an integrated alkaline seawater electrolyzer using the catalyst as the cathode outperforms the benchmark Pt/C/NF||RuO2/NF.