An Efficient and Robust Surface-Modified Iron Electrode for Oxygen Evolution in Alkaline Water Electrolysis

Mitra, D.; Trinh, P.; Malkhandi, S.; Mecklenburg, M.; Heald, S. M.; Balasubramanian, M.; Narayanan, S. R.

doi:10.1149/2.1371805jes

Title: An Efficient and Robust Surface-Modified Iron Electrode for Oxygen Evolution in Alkaline Water Electrolysis

Journal Article · 14 April 2018 · Journal of the Electrochemical Society

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1371805jes · OSTI ID:1461347

Mitra, D. ^[1]; Trinh, P. ^[1]; Malkhandi, S. ^[1]; Mecklenburg, M. ^[1]; Heald, S. M. ^[2];

^[2];

^[1]

Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)

Iron is unstable as an oxygen evolution electrode in alkaline media. Thus, relatively expensive nickel-based electrodes are used in industrial alkaline water electrolysis. We show that an iron substrate can be rendered stable and electrocatalytically active for the oxygen evolution reaction by nano-scale surface modification with nickel. The electrocatalytic activity of such a surface-modified iron electrode is comparable to the recently-reported nickel-based catalysts. The electrocatalytic activity is due to a 50-nanometer layer of a high-surface area a-nickel hydroxide on the iron electrode. The nickel modification renders the iron electrode electrically-conductive, prevents dielectric breakdown, and thus endows anodic stability. The electrocatalytic activity is unchanged even after 1000 hours of continuous operation. The temperature of preparation is critical, as excessive dehydration of the hydroxide layer results in nickel ferrite formation and a drastic reduction in electrocatalytic activity. We report significant insight into the surface chemical composition and structure of the catalyst layer by X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, Photoelectron Spectroscopy, and Transmission Electron Microscopy. Electrochemical kinetics analysis suggests that surface hydroxo-intermediates react with the hydroxide ions from the solution to evolve oxygen. Furthermore, the surface-modified iron substrates present an opportunity for improving the performance and reducing the cost of alkaline water electrolysis systems. (C) The Author(s) 2018. Published by ECS.

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Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1461347

Journal Information:: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 165, Issue 5; ISSN 0013-4651

Publisher:: The Electrochemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 13 works

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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Electrocatalysis
Electrolysis
Oxygen Evolution

Title: An Efficient and Robust Surface-Modified Iron Electrode for Oxygen Evolution in Alkaline Water Electrolysis

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