Electrolyte engineering toward efficient water splitting at mild pH

Tatsuya Shinagawa, Marcus Tze-Kiat Ng, Kazuhiro Takanabe

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

51 Scopus citations

Abstract

The development of processes for the conversion of H2O/CO2 driven by electricity generated in renewable manners is essential to achieve sustainable energy and chemical cycles, in which the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is one of the bottlenecks. In this contribution, the influences of the electrolyte molarity and identity on OER at alkaline to neutral pH were investigated at an appreciable current density of ~10 mA cm-2, revealing (1) the clear boundary of reactant switching between H2O/OH- due to the diffusion limitation of OH- and (2) the substantial contribution of the mass transport of the buffered species in buffered mild pH conditions. These findings propose a strategy of electrolyte engineering: tuning the electrolyte properties to maximize the mass-transport flux. The concept was successfully demonstrated for OER as well as overall water electrolysis in buffered mild pH conditions, shedding light on the development of practical solar fuel production systems.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4155-4162
Number of pages8
JournalChemSusChem
Volume10
Issue number21
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 21 2017

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