Solid–Liquid Interfacial Hydrogen Bond‐Mediated Mass Transfer Toward Industrial Water Electrolysis
Yu Lin, Bowen Chen, Danji Huang, Zhenhong Yang, Ang‐Yu Lu, Zhaoyang Shi, Youwen Liu, Jiakun Fang, Huiqiao Li, Tianyou Zhai
Abstract
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 H 2 O 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.