Current Development and Practical Thinking of NiFe-based Electrocatalysts for Alkaline Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Xingyi Chen

doi:10.54691/he9k8e38

Authors

Xingyi Chen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54691/he9k8e38

Keywords:

NiFe-based electrocatalysts; oxygen evolution reaction; alkaline water electrolysis; NiFe-LDH; surface reconstruction; stability; green hydrogen.

Abstract

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the kinetically-limiting half-reaction in alkaline water electrolysis, and is fundamental to the viability of industrial-scale green hydrogen production. NiFe based electrocatalysts represent the most studied class of non-precious metal OER catalysts considering their superior intrinsic activity, earth-abundance and structural variety. In this work, the current progress of NiFe-based electrocatalysts for alkaline OER is summarised from three aspects including mechanistic knowledge, material engineering strategies and stability concerns. The adsorbate evolution mechanism (AEM) and lattice oxygen mechanism (LOM) are critically explored for NiFe layered double hydroxides (NiFe-LDH) and their in-situ regenerated NiFeOOH phases. Systematic reviews on engineering approaches such as heteroatom doping, defect engineering, heterostructure fabrication and substrate integration are offered. The primary obstacles for commercialisation are identified to be stability issues associated with iron segregation, structural degradation and catalyst delamination and potential new mitigation measures are proposed including oxyanion stabilisation and self-healing designs. The review concludes with practical ideas on bridging laboratory performance criteria and industry needs in electrolysis.

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References

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