【Frontiers in HaiChuan Chemical Technology】Fudan University scholars make progress in using proton exchange membrane electrolysis to produce green hydrogen

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With funding from projects such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (approval numbers: 22279019, 22205038, 22393911, 22273011), Zhang Bo, Xu Yifei, Duan Sai, and Xu Xin from Fudan University have made significant progress in the research on water electrolysis for hydrogen production. The relevant findings were published in the journal Science under the title “Ultrastable supported oxygen evolution electrocatalyst formed by ripening induced embedding,” and the article can be accessed at https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adr3149. As a clean and sustainable energy source, green hydrogen is widely used in industries, transportation, and the power sector. Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE), thanks to its efficient water splitting capability, has become one of the key technologies for green hydrogen production. However, the widespread application of PEMWE technology is faced with the challenges of high costs and scarcity of efficient iridium catalysts; therefore, supported catalysts must be used to reduce the amount of iridium required to address this issue. The resulting catalyst deactivation issue has become the main obstacle to the further advancement of PEMWE technology. To address the bottlenecks associated with the use of iridium-based catalysts in PEMWE, a team from Fudan University developed stable and efficient supported catalysts using an ultrasound-accelerated aging strategy. The research results show that this strategy can accelerate the spontaneous growth (maturation) process of nanocarriers, overcoming the problem of slow carrier growth under mere heating conditions, and enabling simultaneous control over the growth of oxide carriers and the nucleation process of active metals. Based on this strategy, the research team successfully prepared iridium nanoparticle-embedded water electrolysis catalysts, which significantly enhanced the stability of the catalysts and greatly improved their catalytic efficiency for water electrolysis. At a current density of 3 amperes per square centimeter, this catalyst results in a proton exchange membrane water electrolysis voltage of only 1.72 volts, with a voltage degradation rate of 1.3 microvolts per hour, and a total load of precious metals of just 0.4 milligrams per square centimeter. This achievement provides critical technical support for the further advancement of PEMWE technology and the industrialization of green hydrogen.