Nanostructured Ni Based Anode and Cathode for Alkaline Water Electrolyzers
1
Dipartimento di Ingegneria, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
2
Département Génie thermique et énergie, Université de Bretagne Sud, IRDL UMR CNRS 6027, 56325 Lorient, France
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Energies 2019, 12(19), 3669; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12193669
Received: 9 August 2019 / Revised: 16 September 2019 / Accepted: 23 September 2019 / Published: 25 September 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Materials and Devices for Solar to Hydrogen Energy Conversion)
Owing to the progressive abandoning of the fossil fuels and the increase of atmospheric CO2 concentration, the use of renewable energies is strongly encouraged. The hydrogen economy provides a very interesting scenario. In fact, hydrogen is a valuable energy carrier and can act as a storage medium as well to balance the discontinuity of the renewable sources. In order to exploit the potential of hydrogen it must be made available in adequate quantities and at an affordable price. Both goals can be potentially achieved through the electrochemical water splitting, which is an environmentally friendly process as well as the electrons and water are the only reagents. However, these devices still require a lot of research to reduce costs and increase efficiency. An approach to improve their performance is based on nanostructured electrodes characterized by high electrocatalytic activity. In this work, we show that by using template electrosynthesis it is possible to fabricate Ni nanowires featuring a very high surface area. In particular, we found that water-alkaline electrolyzers with Ni nanowires electrodes covered by different electrocatalyst have good and stable performance at room temperature as well. Besides, the results concern nickel-cobalt nanowires electrodes for both hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction will be presented and discussed. Finally, preliminary tests concerning the use of Ni foam differently functionalized will be shown. For each electrode, electrochemical and electrocatalytic tests aimed to establishing the performance of the electrolyzers were carried out. Long term amperostatic test carried out in aqueous solution of KOH will be reported as well.
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Keywords:
alkaline electrolyzers; nickel; nanostructures; Ni-alloy; iridium oxide; cobalt; palladium; nanowires; foam; electrocatalysts
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MDPI and ACS Style
Ganci, F.; Baguet, T.; Aiello, G.; Cusumano, V.; Mandin, P.; Sunseri, C.; Inguanta, R. Nanostructured Ni Based Anode and Cathode for Alkaline Water Electrolyzers. Energies 2019, 12, 3669. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12193669
AMA Style
Ganci F, Baguet T, Aiello G, Cusumano V, Mandin P, Sunseri C, Inguanta R. Nanostructured Ni Based Anode and Cathode for Alkaline Water Electrolyzers. Energies. 2019; 12(19):3669. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12193669
Chicago/Turabian StyleGanci, Fabrizio; Baguet, Tracy; Aiello, Giuseppe; Cusumano, Valentino; Mandin, Philippe; Sunseri, Carmelo; Inguanta, Rosalinda. 2019. "Nanostructured Ni Based Anode and Cathode for Alkaline Water Electrolyzers" Energies 12, no. 19: 3669. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12193669
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