麻豆淫院

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a remarkable process that can create clean hydrogen fuel鈥攁 potential part of a solution to our climate change crisis. The problem lies in scaling up this reaction from a lab experiment to large-scale commercial production, while keeping costs down.

In their search for superior HER performance, researchers at Tohoku University demonstrated that a surface reconstruction pathway can produce durable non-noble metal-based cathodes that speed up the HER reaction. They can maintain their performance for more than 300 hours and are calculated to cost very close to the US Department of Energy's 2026 H₂ production target ($2.00 per kg_H2^-1).

This could pave the way for the rational design of brand new, highly-efficient non-noble metal-based cathodes for commercial PEM applications鈥攆inally bridging the gap from laboratory to factory.

The findings are in Advanced Energy Materials.

The angle this study approached for trying to improve the HER鈥攚hich tends to be inefficient and slow by nature鈥攚as transition metal phosphides (TMPs). This promising catalyst (which improves the HER's efficiency) is a durable and cost-effective non-noble metal. However, typically noble metals are used, so the researchers recognized that there was a knowledge gap about non-noble metals that needed to be filled.

The research team prepared F modified CoP and examined aspects such as its surface reconstruction and true active sites using operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and Raman measurements. Essentially, adding the F in the CoP_1-x lattice allows for P-vacancy sites to form on the surface, which leads to more active sites that are able to speed up the HER.

"This reconstructed Co is highly active, works in acidic conditions, and can maintain approximately 76 W for over 300 hours," says Heng Liu (Advanced Institute for Materials Research: WPI-AIMR).

"We're getting close to an affordable method to produce fuel. The calculated cost of using this method is $2.17 per kg_H2^-1鈥攋ust 17 cents over the current production target set for 2026."

The researchers found that when this F modified CoP cathode underwent surface reconstruction, its activity was improved. The experiment doesn't just test the setup in a lab-scale experimental setup with three electrodes, but also extends the findings to commercial-scale PEM electrolyzers.

These results are significant advancements in HER catalyst research that could be the basis for the rational design of other non-noble metal-based cathodes.

"We're always thinking about the end goal, which is for research to make its way into everyday life. This advancement brings us one step closer to designing more realistic options for commercial PEM application," says Liu.