Self-sustaining alkaline seawater electrolysis via forward osmosis membranes  

作　　者：Ke Shi Hongyi Wan Keyu Wang Fumohan Fang Shiyi Li Yixing Wang Linfeng Lei Linzhou Zhuang Zhi Xu 

机构地区：[1]State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering,East China University of Science and Technology,Shanghai,200237,China [2]Suzhou Laboratory,Suzhou,215000,China [3]Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,Hunan Institute of Science and Technology,Yueyang,Hunan,Yueyang,414000,China

出　　处：《Green Energy & Environment》2025年第3期518-527,共10页绿色能源与环境(英文版)

基　　金：funding provided by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFB3801301);National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22075076, 22208097 and 22378119);Shanghai Pilot Program for Basic Research (22TQ1400100-4)。

摘　　要：Seawater electrolysis for hydrogen production faces inherent challenges, including side reactions, corrosion, and scaling, stemming from the intricate composition of seawater. In response, researchers have turned to continuous water splitting using forward osmosis(FO)-driven seawater desalination. However, the necessity of a neutral electrolyte hampers this strategy due to the limited current density and scarcity of precious metals. Herein, this study applies alkali-durable FO membranes to enable self-sustaining seawater splitting, which can selectively withdraw water molecules, from seawater, via concentration gradient. The membranes demonstrates outstanding perm-selectivity of water/ions(~5830 mol mol^(-1)) during month-long alkaline resistance tests, preventing electrolyte leaching(>97% OHàretention) while maintaining ~95%water balance(V_(FO)= V_(electrolysis)) via preserved concentration gradient for consistent forward-osmosis influx of water molecules. With the consistent electrolyte environment protected by the polyamide FO membranes, the Ni Fe-Ar-P catalyst exhibits promising performance: a sustain current density of 360 m A cmà2maintained at the cell voltage of 2.10 V and 2.15 V for 360 h in the offshore seawater, preventing Cl/Br corrosion(98% rejection) and Mg/Ca passivation(99.6% rejection). This research marks a significant advancement towards efficient and durable seawater-based hydrogen production.

关 键 词：Alkaline water electrolysis Forward osmosis Self-sustaining seawater splitting Hydrogen evolution Real seawater 

分 类 号：TQ116.21[化学工程—无机化工] P746[天文地球—海洋科学]