Solid–Liquid Interfacial Hydrogen Bond‐Mediated Mass Transfer Toward Industrial Water Electrolysis

Abstract

The rapid migration of reactive ions across the electrolyte-catalytic sites interface is crucial in various catalytic processes. Herein, we introduce hydrogen bonds to bridge the intrinsic gap at the catalyst-electrolyte interface, mediating the diffusion of hydroxide ions. We implemented the aforementioned concept by a library of oxyanions functionalized NiCo OOH, wherein the oxygen atom within the oxyanions established hydrogen bonds with H₂O molecules in the electrolyte. Operando spectroscopy indicated that both water electrolysis activity and hydroxide concentration exhibited a volcano-shaped dependence on the electrostatic potential of functionalized group, which formulated the electrostatic potential as descriptors to guide the design of interfacial hydrogen bond-mediated catalysis. The sulfate-modified NiCo OOH achieved an ultralow energy consumption of 4.23 kWh m^-3 _H2 in the industrial electrolyzers, predicting that the electricity consumption can be reduced by 16 000 TWh.