Stable seawater oxidation with a self-healing oxygen-evolving catalyst

Direct seawater electrolysis is key to massive hydrogen fuel production without the depletion of precious freshwater resources and the need for high-purity electrolytes. However, the presence of high-concentration chloride ions (Cl-) and alkaline-earth metal ions (Mg2+, Ca2+) poses great challenges to the stability and selectivity of the catalysts for seawater splitting. Here, we demonstrate a self-healing oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst for long-term seawater electrolysis. By suppressing the competitive chlorine evolution reaction and precipitating the alkaline-earth metal ions through an alkaline treatment of the seawater, stable seawater oxidation is achieved owing to the self-healing ability of the borate-intercalated nickel-cobalt-iron oxyhydroxides (NiCoFe-B-i) OER catalyst under highly-alkaline conditions. The self-healing NiCoFe-B-i catalyst achieves stable seawater oxidation at a large current density of 500 mA cm(-2) for 1000 h with near unity Faraday efficiency. Our results have demonstrated strong durability and high OER selectivity of the self-healing catalyst under harsh conditions, paving the way for industrial large-scale seawater electrolysis.

Automated summary

By suppressing competitive reactions and precipitating alkaline-earth metal ions through an alkaline treatment of seawater, a self-healing catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has been demonstrated. The self-healing catalyst showed stable seawater oxidation under highly-alkaline conditions, paving the way for large-scale seawater electrolysis.