Construction of Integrated Electrodes with Transport Highways for Pure-Water-Fed Anion Exchange Membrane Water...

The design of high-performance and durable electrodes for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for pure-water-fed anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE). In this study, an integrated electrode with vertically aligned ionomer-incorporated nickel-iron layered double hydroxide nanosheet arrays, used on one side of the liquid/gas diffusion layer, is fabricated for the OER. Transport highways in the fabricated integrated electrode, significantly improve the transport of liquid/gas, hydroxide ions, and electron in the anode, resulting in a high current density of 1900 mA cm^-2 at 1.90 V in pure-water-fed AEMWE. Specifically, three-electrode and single-cell measurement results indicate that an anion-exchange ionomer can increase the local OH^- concentration on the integrated electrodes surface and facilitate the OER for pure-water-fed AEMWE. This study highlights a new approach to fabricating and understanding electrode architecture with enhanced performance and durability for pure-water-fed AEMWE.