A NiFeCo-Based Self-Supported Anode Fabricated by Hydrogen-Thermal Reduction for Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis

Anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) is a zero-emission and efficient technology to produce green hydrogen. As core components, highly efficient and durable electrodes are essential for the AEMWE system. Especially, for the anode where the H2O-to-O2 reaction occurs, the conventional binder-based anode is prone to collapse due to the intense H2O/O2 mixture rushing. This study reports an efficient method for fabricating a binder-free NiFeCo-based self-supported anode by hydrogen-thermal reduction. The Ni felt is soaked in a solution containing Ni2+, Fe2+, and Co2+, followed by reduction in H2/Ar gas to obtain a self-supported anode NiFeCo/NF. Benefiting from the high catalytic activity of the NiFeCo ternary alloy, NiFeCo/NF exhibits excellent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance. In the three-electrode cell, the overpotential of NiFeCo/NF is 263 mV at 10 mA cm–2 (1 M KOH, 25 °C). Moreover, the AEMWE cell using NiFeCo/NF as an anode achieves a current density of 2.3 A cm–2 at 2.0 V (1 M KOH, 60 °C). Furthermore, the cell exhibits outstanding stability during a 1410 h test at 1.0 A cm–2 (electrolyte replacement every 48 h), with a voltage decay rate of 48.9 μV h–1. This paper presents a preparation method for a high-performance and long-life self-supported anode.