Separating hydrogen and oxygen evolution in alkaline water electrolysis using nickel hydroxide

摘要

Low-cost alkaline water electrolysis has been considered a sustainable approach to producing hydrogen using renewable energy inputs, but preventing hydrogen/oxygen mixing and efficiently using the instable renewable energy are challenging. Here, using nickel hydroxide as a redox mediator, we decouple the hydrogen and oxygen production in alkaline water electrolysis, which overcomes the gas-mixing issue and may increase the use of renewable energy. In this architecture, the hydrogen production occurs at the cathode by water reduction, and the anodic Ni(OH)₂ is simultaneously oxidized into NiOOH. The subsequent oxygen production involves a cathodic NiOOH reduction (NiOOH→Ni(OH)₂) and an anodic OH? oxidization. Alternatively, the NiOOH formed during hydrogen production can be coupled with a zinc anode to form a NiOOH-Zn battery, and its discharge product (that is, Ni(OH)₂) can be used to produce hydrogen again. This architecture brings a potential solution to facilitate renewables-to-hydrogen conversion.