Ultra-High Performance of In Situ Constructed Trimetallic (Pd, Fe, Co) Nanoparticles on Carbon Paper as an Electrocatalyst for Large Current Density Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Seawater

Abstract

Seawater electrocatalysis holds significant promise as a technology for hydrogen production. A simple and low-cost impregnation-hydrothermal and thermal reduction strategy was used to synthesize in situ constructed three-dimensional porous trimetallic (Pd, Fe, and Co) anchored on a cheap and high-conducting carbon paper (CP) electrode for water electrolysis in alkaline media. The fabricated PdFeCo1−xONPs@CP electrode had super-hydrophilic and superaerophobic properties, allowing for the efficient removal of oxygen bubbles from the electrode surface due to the close interaction between the electrode and electrolyte. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of trimetallics and CP-fibers significantly increased OER intrinsic activity. PdFeCo1−xONPs@CP catalyst demonstrated critical low overpotentials of 220 and 300 mV, resulting in an extraordinarily high current density of 100 mA cm−2. For the full cell overall water splitting performance, cell overpotentials as low as 140 and 151 mV were needed to drive 10 mA cm−2 in seawater and alkaline solution electrolytes.