Fluoride‐Engineered Electrolyte for Highly Stable and Efficient Alkaline Seawater Electrolysis at 2 A cm <sup>−2</sup>

Seawater electrolysis offers an energy-efficient route for hydrogen production while alleviating freshwater scarcity. However, the presence of Cl<sup>-</sup> 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<sup>-</sup> as an electrolyte additive significantly enhances the performance of NiFe layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) anodes. Upon optimizing the F<sup>-</sup> concentration, benchmark NiFe-LDH showed the lower overpotential than that of the F<sup>-</sup>-free system, and achieved stable operation at 2 A cm<sup>-2</sup> 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<sup>-</sup>, by virtue of its high electronegativity and charge density, modulates the electronic environment of Ni and Fe sites, enhances the adsorption of OH<sup>-</sup>, and thereby improves OER activity. Moreover, the introduction of F<sup>-</sup> increases free water content and modulates the hydrogen bond network to promote OH<sup>-</sup> transportation while repelling Cl<sup>-</sup> 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.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Published
2025-10-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202518106
Citations
12
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
4.36

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article

Fluoride‐Engineered Electrolyte for Highly Stable and Efficient Alkaline Seawater Electrolysis at 2 A cm −2

Yaping Li, Zexiang Shen, Daojin Zhou, Xiaoming Sun et al.
12 citations
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
4.36
article

Fluoride‐Engineered Electrolyte for Highly Stable and Efficient Alkaline Seawater Electrolysis at 2 A cm −2

Yaping Li, Zexiang Shen, Daojin Zhou, Xiaoming Sun, Wei Liu, Yaling Zhang, Yongqiang Yang, Liang Yu, Sirui Chen, Aiqing Cao, Jingjin Cheng, Yixin Zhang
article en
12 citations

Abstract

Seawater electrolysis offers an energy-efficient route for hydrogen production while alleviating freshwater scarcity. However, the presence of Cl<sup>-</sup> 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<sup>-</sup> as an electrolyte additive significantly enhances the performance of NiFe layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) anodes. Upon optimizing the F<sup>-</sup> concentration, benchmark NiFe-LDH showed the lower overpotential than that of the F<sup>-</sup>-free system, and achieved stable operation at 2 A cm<sup>-2</sup> 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<sup>-</sup>, by virtue of its high electronegativity and charge density, modulates the electronic environment of Ni and Fe sites, enhances the adsorption of OH<sup>-</sup>, and thereby improves OER activity. Moreover, the introduction of F<sup>-</sup> increases free water content and modulates the hydrogen bond network to promote OH<sup>-</sup> transportation while repelling Cl<sup>-</sup> 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.

Angewandte Chemie International EditionVol. 64(52)
Northwestern University (US), Southwest Petroleum University (CN), Beijing Normal University (CN), Beijing University of Chemical Technology (CN)
Beijing Nova Program, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
4.36
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