Structured Selective Activation for Bubble‐Controlled High‐Rate Alkaline OER

Efficient gas bubble management is critical for advancing alkaline oxygen evolution electrodes, but scalable and cost-effective designs remain limited. Here we present an asymmetrically activated nickel-plate (NP) electrode that couples selective catalyst activation and structured geometry to guide bubble evolution and enhance mass transport. The electrode is fabricated through micromilling, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating, and electrodeposition of amorphous nickel-iron (NiFe) catalysts, forming deactivated and activated regions that promote directional bubble release and electrolyte renewal through gridded microchannels. This asymmetric configuration mitigates transport overpotential at high current densities, achieving 408 mV at 1000 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> and a high electrochemically active surface area (ECSA)-normalized current density of 210 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>. The monolithic framework, defect-rich amorphous catalysts, and stable PTFE coating ensure sustained performance for over 100 h. This work demonstrates a simple and scalable structural strategy to control interfacial bubble dynamics, providing both high activity and long-term durability for alkaline oxygen evolution reaction.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small
Published
2026-02-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202514902
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
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article

Structured Selective Activation for Bubble‐Controlled High‐Rate Alkaline OER

Youngseob Lee, Sangwook Park, Donggeun Eom, Hyoungsoon Lee
Small
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
article

Structured Selective Activation for Bubble‐Controlled High‐Rate Alkaline OER

Youngseob Lee, Sangwook Park, Donggeun Eom, Hyoungsoon Lee
article en

Abstract

Efficient gas bubble management is critical for advancing alkaline oxygen evolution electrodes, but scalable and cost-effective designs remain limited. Here we present an asymmetrically activated nickel-plate (NP) electrode that couples selective catalyst activation and structured geometry to guide bubble evolution and enhance mass transport. The electrode is fabricated through micromilling, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating, and electrodeposition of amorphous nickel-iron (NiFe) catalysts, forming deactivated and activated regions that promote directional bubble release and electrolyte renewal through gridded microchannels. This asymmetric configuration mitigates transport overpotential at high current densities, achieving 408 mV at 1000 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> and a high electrochemically active surface area (ECSA)-normalized current density of 210 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>. The monolithic framework, defect-rich amorphous catalysts, and stable PTFE coating ensure sustained performance for over 100 h. This work demonstrates a simple and scalable structural strategy to control interfacial bubble dynamics, providing both high activity and long-term durability for alkaline oxygen evolution reaction.

Small
Seoul National University of Science and Technology (KR), Seoul National University (KR), The Seoul Institute (KR), Creative Research (GB), Intelligent Energy (United Kingdom) (GB), Chung-Ang University (KR)
Openalex Percentile: Top 71%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
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