Electrocatalysis in Water Electrolysis

Electrolytic water splitting was the first electrochemical process to be performed. Historically, the first experiment on water electrolysis was attributed to Nicholson and Carlisle, who in 1800, using the newly invented Volta s pile, observed the formation of gaseous products in the laboratory [1]. In reality, there are documents proving that Volta himself noted the phenomenon a few years earlier, although he never reported the observation in a publication [2]. 

In the 1970s, a first serious energy crisis related to a sharp increase in the cost of fossil fuels led to a revival of interest in water electrolysis. This time the interest was focused on hydrogen as an energy vector that could possibly replace fossil fuels in the world economy The aim was twofold to become relatively independent of the influence of the oil market and to reduce the environmental impact of the 

Catalysis for Sustainable Energy Production. Edited by P. Barbaro and C. Bianchini Copyright 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA, Weinheim ISBN 978-3-527-32095-0 

In the meantime, the sharp decrease in the cost of fossil fuels to the levels before the 1970s led to a weakening (again ) of interest in a hydrogen economy and to a slowdown of research on improving water electrolysis. 

Nowadays, the concerns about pollution and the recent dramatic increase in the price of oil have definitely boosted interest in hydrogen as an energy vector and a clean fuel, although the problem of a dean energy source is still far from being solved. 

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Rasten, E., Hagen, G., Tunold, R. (2003). Electrocatalysis in water electrolysis with solid polymer electrolyte. Electronica Acta 48,3945-3952. 

S. Trasatti, Electrocatalysis in Water Electrolysis , Book of Abstracts, 1st Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry of South-East Europe, Rovinj, Croatia (2008) 1. 

In electrocatalysis the use of metal-zirconium alloys in water electrolysis is a good example. It seems to be well established that the very high electrocatalytic activity of the HF-treated amorphous Ni and Cu electrodes is related to the presence of a rough, Raney-type surface structure. The beneficial effect of the amorphous structure is that it ensures the ready formation of a thick, stable, active surface layer. 

The targets of electrocatalysis are at the basis of recent developments in the field of water electrolysis. First, it is necessary to distinguish between materials evaluation and materials selection. The former is the search for materials with better and better properties for the wanted electrode process. The latter implies global considerations of applicability. This is probably what makes academic research differ from R D. The former is favored by scientifically exciting performance, in the latter it is necessary to find a compromise between, for instance, activity and stability or between efficiency and economic convenience. 

B. Electrocatalysis of Oxygen Evolution in Advanced Alkaline Water Electrolysis... 

In this chapter, the focus will be on trends in electrocatalysis of the water-splitting reaction or the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which is the reaction at the anode side in an electrolysis cell. Furthermore, simple framework for addressing OER applying DFT simulations will be presented. For further reading, there are two previous book chapters where the approach has been reviewed [3, 4],... 

Steam electrolysis splits water in the form of steam into hydrogen and oxygen by use of electricity and thus can be used as a method to produce hydrogen. Unlike other types of electrolysis, e.g., alkaline water electrolysis and polymer electrolyte water electrolysis, the steam electrolysis operates typically at 700-1,000 °C since the electrolysis uses solid electrolyte that works at the high temperatures. Such high operation temperature leads to fast kinetics for the electrode reactions, so that precious metals are not necessary for the electrocatalysis. 

Many studies pertaining to water electrolysis electrocatalysis in regenerative fuel cells have been published. The catalytic materials used are in general metal alloys and oxides. More recent studies have shown that Ptjlri (numbers in subscripts indicate atomic ratios) or 50% Pt/50% Ir02 (wt%) can be used in... 

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