Superaerophobic hydrogels for enhanced electrochemical and photoelectrochemical hydrogen production

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Abstract

A simple modification of electrodes with hydrogel can facilitate hydrogen evolution reactions by readily eliminating gas bubbles.

Abstract

The efficient removal of gas bubbles in (photo)electrochemical gas evolution reactions is an important but underexplored issue. Conventionally, researchers have attempted to impart bubble-repellent properties (so-called superaerophobicity) to electrodes by controlling their microstructures. However, conventional approaches have limitations, as they are material specific, difficult to scale up, possibly detrimental to the electrodes’ catalytic activity and stability, and incompatible with photoelectrochemical applications. To address these issues, we report a simple strategy for the realization of superaerophobic (photo)electrodes via the deposition of hydrogels on a desired electrode surface. For a proof-of-concept demonstration, we deposited a transparent hydrogel assembled from M13 virus onto (photo)electrodes for a hydrogen evolution reaction. The hydrogel overlayer facilitated the elimination of hydrogen bubbles and substantially improved the (photo)electrodes’ performances by maintaining high catalytic activity and minimizing the concentration overpotential. This study can contribute to the practical application of various types of (photo)electrochemical gas evolution reactions.

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Most cited references 38

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A fast soluble carbon-free molecular water oxidation catalyst based on abundant metals.

Qiushi Yin, Jeffrey Miles Tan, Claire Besson … (2010)

Traditional homogeneous water oxidation catalysts are plagued by instability under the reaction conditions. We report that the complex [Co4(H2O)2(PW9O34)2]10-, comprising a Co4O4 core stabilized by oxidatively resistant polytungstate ligands, is a hydrolytically and oxidatively stable homogeneous water oxidation catalyst that self-assembles in water from salts of earth-abundant elements (Co, W, and P). With [Ru(bpy)3]3+ (bpy is 2,2'-bipyridine) as the oxidant, we observe catalytic turnover frequencies for O2 production > or = 5 s(-1) at pH = 8. The rate's pH sensitivity reflects the pH dependence of the four-electron O2-H2O couple. Extensive spectroscopic, electrochemical, and inhibition studies firmly indicate that [Co4(H2O)2(PW9O34)2]10- is stable under catalytic turnover conditions: Neither hydrated cobalt ions nor cobalt hydroxide/oxide particles form in situ.

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Ultrahigh hydrogen evolution performance of under-water "superaerophobic" MoS₂ nanostructured electrodes.

Zhiyi Lu, Wei Zhu, Xiaoyou Yu … (2014)

The adhesion of as-formed gas bubbles on the electrode surface usually impedes mass-transfer kinetics and subsequently decreases electrolysis efficiency. Here it is demonstrated that nanostructured MoS₂ films on conductive substrates show a faster hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), current increase, and a more-stable working state than their flat counterpart by significantly alleviating the adhesion of as-formed gas bubbles on the electrode. This study clearly reveals the importance of a nano-porous structure for HER, which should be general and beneficial for constructing other gas-evolution electrodes.

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Bioinspired Interfaces with Superwettability: From Materials to Chemistry.

Bin Su, Ye Tian, Lei Jiang (2016)

Superwettability is a special case of the wetting phenomenon among liquids, gases, and solids. The superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic effect discovered initially has undergone a century of development based on materials science and biomimetics. With the rapid development of research on anti-wetting materials, superoleophobic/superoleophilic surfaces have been fabricated to repel organic liquids besides water. Further studies of underwater superoleophobic/superoleophilic/superaerophobic/superaerophilic materials provide an alternative way to fabricate anti-wetting surfaces rather than lowering the surface energy. Owing to a series of efforts on the studying of extreme wettabilities, a mature superwettability system gradually evolved and has since become a vibrant area of active research, covering topics of superhydrophobicity/superhydrophilicity, superoleophobicity/superoleophilicity in gas or under liquid, superaerophobicity/superaerophilicity under liquid, and combinations of these states. The kinetic study of the superwettability system includes statics and dynamics, while the studied material structures range from traditional two-dimensional materials to three-dimensional, one-dimensional, and zero-dimensional materials. Furthermore, the wetting liquids range from water to oil, aqueous solutions, and ionic liquids, as well as liquid crystals and other types of liquids. The wetting conditions extend over a wide range of temperatures, pressures, and other external fields. With the development of this series of research, many new theories and functional interfacial materials have been fabricated, including self-cleaning textiles, oil/water separation systems, and water collection systems, and some of these have already been applied in industry. Moreover, the study of superwettability has also introduced many new phenomena and principles to the field of interfacial chemistry that display its vast potential in both materials and chemistry. The present Perspective aims to summarize the most recent research on these materials and their interfacial chemistry. An overview of novel materials in superwettability systems and interfacial materials is presented. Specifically, the evolution of superwettable materials will be introduced, and the fundamental rules for building these superwetting materials will be discussed, followed by a summary of recent progress in the application of superwettable materials to alter the behaviors of chemical reactants and products. Specific emphasis is placed on recent strategies that exploit superwettable materials to influence the performance of traditional chemical reactions and their unique contributions to chemistry, including the effective collection of reaction products, unique growth models of precipitates, and a simple strategy for the alignment/assembly of nanoscale building blocks. Finally, a short perspective is provided on the potential for future developments in the field.

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Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Sci Adv

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Sci Adv

Journal ID (publisher-id): SciAdv

Journal ID (hwp): advances

Title: Science Advances

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science

ISSN (Electronic): 2375-2548

Publication date Collection: April 2020

Publication date (Electronic): 10 April 2020

Volume: 6

Issue: 15

Electronic Location Identifier: eaaz3944

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea.

[2 ]Emergent Hydrogen Technology R&D Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea.

[3 ]Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea.

Author notes

[*]

These authors contributed equally to this work.

[† ]Corresponding author. Email: jryu@ 123456unist.ac.kr (J.R.); dongwoog.lee@ 123456unist.ac.kr (D.W.L.)

Author information

Dasom Jeon http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2297-0396

Jinwoo Park http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2921-2923

Changhwan Shin http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9099-1263

Hyunwoo Kim http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1550-9745

Ji-Wook Jang http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1251-1011

Dong Woog Lee http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1572-9270

Jungki Ryu http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0897-8463

Article

Publisher ID: aaz3944

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz3944

PMC ID: 7148083

PubMed ID: 32300656

SO-VID: 219ad194-fa34-4506-accb-466b55b593ce

Copyright © Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).

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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited.

History

Date received : 05 September 2019

Date accepted : 13 January 2020

Funding

Funded by: doi http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003725, National Research Foundation of Korea;

Award ID: 2018R1D1A1A02046918

Funded by: doi http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003725, National Research Foundation of Korea;

Award ID: 2019M1A2A2065616

Funded by: doi http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003725, National Research Foundation of Korea;

Award ID: 2019R1A2C2005854

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Superaerophobic hydrogels for enhanced electrochemical and photoelectrochemical hydrogen production

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Most cited references 38

A fast soluble carbon-free molecular water oxidation catalyst based on abundant metals.

Ultrahigh hydrogen evolution performance of under-water "superaerophobic" MoS₂ nanostructured electrodes.

Bioinspired Interfaces with Superwettability: From Materials to Chemistry.

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