Fluoride‐Engineered Electrolyte for Highly Stable and Efficient Alkaline Seawater Electrolysis at 2 A cm <sup>−2</sup>
Abstract Seawater electrolysis offers an energy‐efficient route for hydrogen production while alleviating freshwater scarcity. However, the presence of Cl − in seawater compromises anode activity and induces severe corrosion, requiring constructing complex electrode architectures that hinder large‐scale application. In this work, we demonstrate that incorporating F − as an electrolyte additive significantly enhances the performance of NiFe layered double hydroxide (NiFe‐LDH) anodes. Upon optimizing the F − concentration, benchmark NiFe‐LDH showed the lower overpotential than that of the F − ‐free system, and achieved stable operation at 2 A cm −2 for 1000 h in seawater electrolyte, representing an approximately 500‐fold improvement over the control set of experiment. The consistency between spectroscopic characterization and multi‐scale simulation results revealed that F − , by virtue of its high electronegativity and charge density, modulates the electronic environment of Ni and Fe sites, enhances the adsorption of OH − , and thereby improves OER activity. Moreover, the introduction of F − increases free water content and modulates the hydrogen bond network to promote OH − transportation while repelling Cl − at the electrode‐electrolyte interface by polarizing the O─H bonds of water molecules on NiFe‐LDH surface. This straightforward electrolyte engineering strategy provides a practical and scalable solution for seawater electrolysis.
Authors
- Yaping Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2927-0496)
- Zexiang Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7432-7936)
- Daojin Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8466-7413)
- Xiaoming Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3831-6233)
- Wei Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6206-8321)
- Yaling Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7122-0268)
- Yongqiang Yang
- Liang Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3922-3454)
- Sirui Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8518-9763)
- Aiqing Cao
- Jingjin Cheng
- Yixin Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9730-1541)
Institutions
- Northwestern University (US)
- Southwest Petroleum University (CN)
- Beijing Normal University (CN)
- Beijing University of Chemical Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie
- Published
- 2025-10-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202518106
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00