Comprehensive understanding of efficient Electrocatalysts for seawater splitting: Challenges, advances and prospects

IF 10.1 1区工程技术 Q1 ENERGY & FUELS

Applied Energy Pub Date : 2025-06-11 DOI:10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.126271

Sanjiang Pan , Wanshou Xu , Zicong Xu , Yang Fu , Desong Wang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

With the large-scale adoption of hydrogen production technology via water electrolysis, the demand for freshwater resources will increase markedly, particularly in those coastal regions where freshwater is in shortage. Seawater constitutes 97.5 % of the total global water resources. Consequently, obtaining hydrogen by electrolyzing seawater can effectively alleviate the bottleneck issue resulting from freshwater scarcity. Nevertheless, seawater contains multiple ions that compete with the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) during the water electrolysis process, and the by-products generated might poison the catalyst, cause environmental pollution, and clog the electrolytic cell. Therefore, the challenges encountered when applying the seawater electrolysis catalysts developed in the laboratory to practical production are far greater than those in pure water electrolysis. In recent years, researchers have explored various metal-based catalysts, including abundant transition metal oxides, noble metal oxides, and their mixtures, some of which have demonstrated outstanding activity and selectivity in seawater electrolysis. This paper reviews the mechanisms of OER and HER under alkaline and acidic conditions, as well as the challenges posed by chloride ions and metal cations in seawater to electrocatalysts, discusses the design concepts and research progress of electrocatalysts aimed at enhancing activity, stability, and corrosion resistance, summarizes and expounds the synthesis strategies, catalytic performance, action mechanisms, and application prospects of different types of seawater electrocatalysts, and looks forward to future research directions such as improving the activity of seawater OER and anti-chloride corrosion through catalyst reconstruction.

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对高效海水分解电催化剂的全面了解：挑战、进展和前景

随着水电解制氢技术的大规模采用，对淡水资源的需求将显著增加，特别是在淡水短缺的沿海地区。海水占全球水资源总量的97.5%。因此，通过电解海水制氢可以有效缓解淡水短缺带来的瓶颈问题。然而，海水中含有多种离子，在电解过程中与析氢反应（HER）和析氧反应（OER）相竞争，产生的副产物可能会毒害催化剂，造成环境污染，堵塞电解槽。因此，将实验室开发的海水电解催化剂应用到实际生产中所遇到的挑战远远大于纯水电解。近年来，研究人员探索了多种金属基催化剂，包括丰富的过渡金属氧化物、贵金属氧化物及其混合物，其中一些催化剂在海水电解中表现出优异的活性和选择性。本文综述了海水中氯离子和金属阳离子对电催化剂在碱性和酸性条件下的OER和HER的作用机理，以及海水中氯离子和金属阳离子对电催化剂的挑战，讨论了旨在提高活性、稳定性和耐腐蚀性的电催化剂的设计理念和研究进展，总结并阐述了不同类型海水电催化剂的合成策略、催化性能、作用机理和应用前景。展望了通过催化剂改造提高海水OER活性、抗氯腐蚀等未来的研究方向。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Applied Energy 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

21.20

自引率

10.70%

发文量

1830

审稿时长

41 days

期刊介绍： Applied Energy serves as a platform for sharing innovations, research, development, and demonstrations in energy conversion, conservation, and sustainable energy systems. The journal covers topics such as optimal energy resource use, environmental pollutant mitigation, and energy process analysis. It welcomes original papers, review articles, technical notes, and letters to the editor. Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts that bridge the gap between research, development, and implementation. The journal addresses a wide spectrum of topics, including fossil and renewable energy technologies, energy economics, and environmental impacts. Applied Energy also explores modeling and forecasting, conservation strategies, and the social and economic implications of energy policies, including climate change mitigation. It is complemented by the open-access journal Advances in Applied Energy.