May 10, 2024

Oxygen Evolution Reaction Breakthrough for Efficient Hydrogen Generation

The idealized structure of LDHs. Credit: Mingfei Shao, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing
New accomplishments of layered double hydroxides toward efficient, stable, fast oxygen advancement reaction.
Researchers in China have actually made improvements in using layered double hydroxides to enhance oxygen development reaction (OER) energy usage, toward the goal of effective hydrogen generation for renewable resource. The scientists, from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, recently released their operate in the journal Energy Material Advances.
” With the increasing demand and intake of fossil fuels, energy scarcity and environmental pollution are becoming unignorable and extreme,” said the corresponding author Mingfei Shao, teacher with the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing. “It is necessary to explore sustainable and sustainable energy, specifically, hydrogen is a new energy with magnificent application potential customers.”

Production of extremely pure hydrogen can be attained by electrochemical water splitting using the electrical power changed from renewable resource such as wind and solar energy. As one of the half-reactions, OER is a four-electron process, which triggers a low performance of energy usage, according to Shao.
Shao and his group focus on layered double hydroxides (LDHs), an important kind of two-dimensional products with wide tunability of the types, molar ratios of the metal components, and the nature of interlayer anions. They are impressive catalysts for OER in alkaline medias.
” We summarized 4 typical methods applied to enhance the OER performance of LDHs. Through these methods, the overpotential of OER can be reduced certainly, leading to a high performance of energy utilization,” Shao stated.
Until now, the development and exploration of OER catalysts is mainly in the experimental stage, which can not fulfill the requirements for large-scale useful use. For instance, there are still problems with expanding the size of drivers and maintaining stability throughout OER with a severe condition, such as high alkalinity and high temperature. Besides, many reported preparation methods of LDH-based catalysts are made complex and time-consuming, which brings high expenses and restricts their application as well as popularization, according to Shao.
” The recognition of reactive oxygen types such as oxygen types adsorbed by active sites on the surface of electrocatalysts and oxygen radical dispersed in the service throughout OER still remains ambiguous due to the unapparent and instable existence of reactive oxygen species,” Shao stated. “After acknowledging these reactive oxygen species, how to make the most of them for more efficient OER is still important.”
” We hope this review can use concepts to more identify the active websites for LDHs with the function of providing guidance to develop advanced electrocatalysts towards electrochemical water splitting,” Shao stated.
Recommendation: “Layered Double Hydroxides for Oxygen Evolution Reaction towards Efficient Hydrogen Generation” by Xin Wan, Yingjie Song, Hua Zhou and Mingfei Shao, 7 September 2022, Energy Material Advances.DOI: 10.34133/ 2022/9842610.
Other factors consist of Xin Wan, Yingjie Song, and Hua Zhou, all with the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China (22090031, 21922501 and 21871021), Project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2021M690319) supported this work.

” We summed up 4 common strategies used to enhance the OER performance of LDHs. Through these techniques, the overpotential of OER can be reduced undoubtedly, leading to a high effectiveness of energy usage,” Shao said. There are still problems with enlarging the size of catalysts and preserving stability during OER with an extreme condition, such as high alkalinity and high temperature. Most reported preparation techniques of LDH-based drivers are complicated and time-consuming, which brings high expenses and restricts their application as well as popularization, according to Shao.