Production of green hydrogen by efficient and economic electrolysis of water with super-alloy nanowire type electrocatalysts

Abstract

Green hydrogen production from the electrolysis of water has good application prospect due to its renewability. The applied voltage of 1.6-2.2V isrequired in the traditional actual water electrolysis process although the the oretical decomposition potential of electrolyzing water is 1.23V. The high overpotential in the electrode reaction results in the high energy-consuming for the water electrolysis processes. The overpotentials of the traditional Ru, Ir and Pt based electrocatalysts are respectively 0.3V, 0.4V and 0.5V, furthermore use of the Pt, Ir and Ru precious metal catalysts also result in high cost of the water electrolysis process. For minimizing the overpoten tials in water electrolysis, a novel super-alloy nanowire electrocatalysts have been discovered and developed for water splitting in the present pa per. It is of significance that the overpotential for the water electrolysis on the super-alloy nanowire electrocatalyst is almost zero. The actual voltage required in the electrolysis process is reduced to 1.3V by using the novel electrocatalyst system with zero overpotential. The utilization of the super-alloy nanowire type electrocatalyst instead of the traditional Pt, Ir and Ru precious metal catalysts is the solution to reduce energy consumption and capital cost in water electrolysis to generate hydrogen and oxygen.