The New Application of Battery-Electrode Reaction: Decoupled Hydrogen Production in Water Electrolysis

Authors

Yuan-yuan MA, Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China;
Zhao-wei GUO, Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China;
Yong-gang WANG, Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China;Follow
Yong-yao XIA, Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China;

Corresponding Author

Yong-gang WANG(ygwang@fudan.edu.cn)

Abstract

Hydrogen has been considered as a promising alternative to unsustainable fossil fuels because of its high calorific value, clean and abundant resources. Water electrolysis combined with renewable energy is regarded as the best way for hydrogen production, which will become the foundation of future hydrogen economy. For the past few years, many efforts have been employed to develop the cheap and high-performance catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction. However,the coupled hydrogen and oxygen evolution and the use of the expensive membrane have greatly restricted the flexibility of the conventional water electrolysis, and hindered the utilization of renewable energy. Recently, our group has introduced the battery-electrode as a solid-state redox mediator to separate the hydrogen and oxygen productions during water electrolysis in space and time, providing a flexible and membrane-free architecture for water splitting. This decoupled architecture also facilitates the conversion of renewable energy to hydrogen. This review highlights the research progresses, and analyzes the advantages and challenges to this new architecture.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

battery-electrode, water electrolysis, decoupled, renewable energy

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.13208/j.electrochem.180143

Publication Date

2018-10-28

Online Available Date

2018-06-27

Revised Date

2018-06-06

Received Date

2018-04-25

Recommended Citation

Yuan-yuan MA, Zhao-wei GUO, Yong-gang WANG, Yong-yao XIA. The New Application of Battery-Electrode Reaction: Decoupled Hydrogen Production in Water Electrolysis[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2018 , 24(5): 444-454.
DOI: 10.13208/j.electrochem.180143
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol24/iss5/4