Half-Electrolysis of Water with the Aid of a Supercapacitor Electrode

Chen, Yao; Chen, George Zheng

Abstract

Half-electrolysis runs one desirable half-cell reaction with the aid of a counter supercapacitor electrode which replaces the other unwanted half-cell reaction occurred inevitably in conventional electrolysis. Herein, it is developed to complete the whole cell reaction of water electrolysis, in alternative steps, with a capacitive activated carbon (AC) electrode and an electrolysis Pt electrode. When positively charging the AC electrode, a hydrogen evolution reaction occurs at the Pt electrode. By reversing the current, the charge stored in the AC electrode is discharged to assist the oxygen evolution reaction on the same Pt electrode. Consecutive completion of the two processes realizes the overall reaction of water electrolysis. This strategy leads to stepwise production of H2 and O2 without the need of a diaphragm in the cell and hence results in a lower energy consumption compared with the practical conventional electrolysis.

Citation

Chen, Y., & Chen, G. Z. (2023). Half-Electrolysis of Water with the Aid of a Supercapacitor Electrode. ACS Applied Energy Materials, 6(11), 6104–6110. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.3c00615

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 4, 2023
• Online Publication Date: May 19, 2023
• Publication Date: Jun 12, 2023
• Deposit Date: May 23, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: May 23, 2023
• Journal: ACS Applied Energy Materials
• Print ISSN: 2574-0962
• Electronic ISSN: 2574-0962
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 6104–6110
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.3c00615
• Keywords: Electrodes, Electrolysis, Evolution reactions, Platinum, Radiology, half-electrolysis, electrolysis of water, stepwise, supercapacitor electrode, diaphragm
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/21102889
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsaem.3c00615