耐久性のある直接海水電気分解のための統合ステンレス鋼ベース電極

Direct seawater electrolysis for hydrogen production is hindered by severe catalyst inactivation and material corrosion caused by the complex composition of natural seawater. In this work, we demonstrate a multistage structure on a stainless steel (SS) substrate by integrating Pt atomic clusters (0.044 wt%) with a dense NiFe layer double hydroxides (NiFe-LDH) anticorrosive coating. The assembled seawater electrolyzer maintains durable operation for 600 h at a current density of 400 mA cm^-2 (∼2.04 V) and for 1000 h at 200 mA cm^-2 (∼1.78 V), while simultaneously achieving a cost reduction of more than 40% and ultralow energy consumption of 4.26 kWh Nm^-3 H₂. Multiple in situ characterization results reveal that the adsorbed H₂O molecules between the interface of Pt atomic clusters and NiFe-LDH could initiate a potential-driven dynamic transformation process from a 4 hydrogen-bond to a 0 hydrogen-bond coordination of H₂O, thereby promoting their dissociation. Pt atomic cluster induces a configuration transformation of interfacial water from two-H down to two-H up and differentiates the adsorption energies between H₂O and chloride ions, further optimizing selectivity. This work fully demonstrates the integrated design of catalysts, anti-corrosion coating, and porous transport layer, thereby offering an innovative and practical approach to direct seawater electrolysis.