Dense Crystalline/Amorphous Phosphides/Oxides Interfacial Sites for Enhanced Industrial-Level Large Current Density Seawater Oxidation

Abstract

Designing high-efficiency and low-cost catalysts with high current densities for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is critical for commercial seawater electrolysis. Here, we present a heterophase synthetic strategy for constructing an electrocatalyst with dense heterogeneous interfacial sites among crystalline Ni₂P, Fe₂P, CeO₂, and amorphous NiFeCe oxides on nickel foam (NF). The synergistic effect of high-density crystalline and amorphous heterogeneous interfaces effectively promotes the redistribution of the charge density and optimizes the adsorbed oxygen intermediates, lowering the energy barrier and promoting the O₂ desorption, thus enhancing the OER performance. The obtained NiFeO-CeO₂/NF catalyst exhibited outstanding OER catalytic activity, with low overpotentials of 338 and 408 mV required to attain high current densities of 500 and 1000 mA cm^-2, respectively, in alkaline natural seawater electrolytes. The solar-driven seawater electrolysis system presents a record-setting and stable solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 20.10%. This work provides directives for developing highly effective and stable catalysts for large-scale clean energy production.