Increasing the rate of the hydrogen evolution reaction in neutral water with protic buffer electrolytes
Kayla E. Clary, Metin Karayilan, Keelee C. McCleary-Petersen, Haley A. Petersen, Richard S. Glass, Jeffrey Pyun, Dennis L. Lichtenberger
Abstract
Significance Today, hydrogen (H 2 ) is necessary for many major industrial processes, but unfortunately H 2 is produced mainly from steam reforming of fossil fuels. The future demand for hydrogen is increasing, as it provides a convenient means to store electrical energy from the growing deployment of clean and renewable energy sources, but current electrolysis methods for hydrogen production are comparatively inefficient and not amenable to large-scale implementation. Herein, we investigate a method to increase the rate of hydrogen production from neutral water by electrocatalysts that is facile and inexpensive, and yet can be large in effect. The method exploits a cationic proton donor functionality in the electrolyte, as demonstrated for both a unique water-soluble metallopolymer catalyst and a standard platinum catalyst.