Development of Co(OH)2/FeOOH Heterostructured Electrode via Sacrificial Template Strategy for Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer

초록

Improving the efficiency of water electrolysis is essential for reducing electrical energy consumption and enabling cost-effective hydrogen production. Among the key challenges, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remains a major bottleneck due to its inherently sluggish kinetics. Although platinum group metal (PGM)-based electrocatalysts offer high OER activity, their high-cost limits large-scale commercialization. In this study, we developed a non-PGM-based heterostructured electrocatalyst composed of Co(OH)2 and FeOOH (Co(OH)2-FeOOH/NF) on commercial nickel foam (NF), synthesized via a sacrificial template method using zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67). The Co(OH)2-FeOOH/NF electrode demonstrated outstanding OER performance, primarily due to the synergistic interaction between Co(OH)2 and FeOOH. When applied to an anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEM electrolyzer), the system achieved a hydrogen production efficiency of 46.7 kWh kg-1H2, highlighting the strong potential of Co(OH)2-FeOOH/NF as a cost-effective and efficient alternative to conventional PGM-based OER electrode.

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