Piezo-Electro-Catalytic Hydrogen Production via Piezoelectric Fluoropolymers

Abstract

Producing future fuels, such as green hydrogen, using less external energy input is a key factor in making such fuels truly environmentally friendly. In addition, the requirement of reducing the amount of catalyst used per mass of fuel produced is key for resource stability, particularly for platinum group metals which dominate such catalysis fields. Herein, a proof-of-principle approach is demonstrated to achieve both targets through piezo-electro-catalysis from chemically stable, flexible, fluoropolymers. Highly polarized MXene-poly(vinylidene-difluoride)-co-(trifluoro-ethylene) interfaces, with an embedded platinum mesh electrode, are shown to decrease the onset overpotential of the mesh by 200 mV, thus lowering the overall energy and Pt required to produce a given mass of hydrogen. The simple approach used herein can be applied to other, advanced catalysts, to boost performance and efficiency.