Self-Repairing Ability of Hybrid Cobalt Hydroxide Nanosheets As Oxygen Evolution Catalysts in Alkaline Electrolytes
Authors: Kuroda Yoshiyuki , Nakajima Ritsuki , Taniguchi Tatsuya , Sasaki Yuta , Nishiki Yoshinori , Awaludin Zaenal , Nakai Takaaki , Kato Akihiro , Mitsushima Shigenori 
Published: February 2024

Introduction

Water electrolysis is a key technology to produce H2 from renewable energy. Because proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWE) require noble metals as catalysts, alkaline-type electrolyzers, such as alkaline water electrolyzers (AWE) and anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE), have attracted much attention for the use of nonnoble-metal-based catalysts. One of the most important issues of AWE is the degradation of catalysts due to generation of reverse current upon shutdown and power fluctuation. Reverse current hardly generates in AEMWE in principle; however, it possibly generates if an electrolyte is supplied instead of pure water.

We have previously reported the self-repairing anode catalysts for AWE [1, 2]. A hybrid cobalt hydroxide nanosheet (denoted as Co-ns, Figure 1a), a Brucite-type cobalt hydroxide modified with tripodal ligands (tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane), was dispersed in an alkaline electrolyte. Co-ns is deposited on the anode during the electrolysis at 800 mA/cm2 to form a catalyst layer. After the degradation of the catalyst by potential cycling, Co-ns is deposited to retain the catalytic activity. To develop catalysts with higher activity, durability, and repairing ability, the understanding of the electrochemical deposition of Co-ns is quite important. Here, we demonstrate the mechanism of the electrochemical deposition of Co-ns.

Experimental

Co-ns was synthesized according to our previous report [1]. The Co-ns was dispersed in 1 M KOH electrolyte at varied concentrations of Co-ns. Ni electrodes were used as both working and counter electrodes. Reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) was used as a reference. Constant current electrolysis at 800 mA/cm2 was applied for 30 min, followed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to evaluate the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity and the amount of deposited Co. These processes ware repeated for several times to characterize the deposition behaviors. Similar experiments were performed, using Co(OH)2 or CoOOH instead of Co-ns.

Results and Discussion

Co-ns was transformed into CoOOH by the decomposition of the tripodal ligand. The deposited amount of Co was evaluated by CV, in which the charge of the cathodic currents at 0.8–1.6 V vs. RHE (denoted as Q
c) was proportional to the amount of Co measured by ICP-AES. Figure 1b shows the plots of Q
c vs. duration of electrolysis. The amounts of deposited CoOOH depended on the concentration of Co-ns. The deposition rates (slope of the curves) gradually decreased along with the progress of the catalyst deposition. During the electrolysis, the electrode potential decreased because of the increased OER activity due to the catalyst deposition. Assuming that the deposition of CoOOH is a pseudo first-order reaction, its rate constant was calculated by dividing the deposition rate by the concentration of Co-ns. The rate constants are linearly correlated with the electrode potential (Figure 1c); thus, the deposition was confirmed to be an electrochemical process. The present results mean that the electrochemical deposition of CoOOH is accelerated when the electrode potential increases due to the degradation of catalysts. Therefore, the self-repairing process is automatically controlled by the condition of the electrode.

The electrochemical deposition proceeds with Co(OH)2, whereas CoOOH hardly deposited at the same conditions, indicating that the oxidation of Co2+ to Co3+ is an essential step of the electrochemical deposition. The electrochemical deposition of Co(OH)2 was stopped after 60 min of electrolysis because of the autooxidation of Co(OH)2 by dissolving O2. It was shown that Co-ns is stable in an electrolyte saturated with O2 probably because the organic modification suppresses the autooxidation. Thus, it is shown that the organic modification of cobalt hydroxide is crucial to retain the self-repairing ability in an electrolyzer.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the potential dependence of the rate constant and the essential step of electrochemical deposition of Co-ns were elucidated through systematic studies using Co-ns and related metal hydroxide catalysts. These findings lead to the design of self-repairing electrocatalysts with high activity, long lifetime, and high self-repairing ability using organic functionalization.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the JSPS KAKENHI (grant number 20H02821). Part of this study uses outcomes of the development of fundamental technology for the advancement of water electrolysis hydrogen production in the advancement of hydrogen technologies and utilization projects (grant number JPNP14021) commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in Japan.

References

[1] Y. Kuroda, T. Nishimoto, S. Mitsushima, Electrochim. Acta, 323, 134812 (2019).

[2] Y. Kuroda, S. Takatsu, T. Taniguchi, Y. Sasaki, I. Nagashima, A. Inomata, Y. Nishiki, A. Zaenal, T. Nakai, A. Kato, S. Mitsushima, J. Sol-Gel Sci. Technol., 104, 647 (2022).

Figure 1