A Low‐Cost, Scalable, and Integrated Hydrogen Electrode Toward Industrial‐Grade Hydrogen Batteries
Abstract
ABSTRACT Aqueous hydrogen batteries are promising candidates for large‐scale energy storage because of their high reliability and long lifespan. However, their practical application remains hindered by hydrogen electrodes that suffer from insufficient catalytic activity, high cost, and limited scalability. Here, we develop an integrated hydrogen electrode (iHE) by rationally integrating a catalyst with a meter‐scale, ultrathin hydrogen diffusion layer. A Ni‐based catalyst is incorporated as a representative into the hydrogen diffusion layer composed of an ultrathin, porous, and hydrophobic nickel‐plated membrane, yielding an electrode cost of only $3.6 m −2 , approximately 5% that of a conventional hydrogen electrode based on Pt catalyst supported on a commercial gas diffusion layer (Pt@GDL). The iHE exhibits a low polarization of 26 mV at 5 mA cm −2 and stable operation over 1600 h. The Ni‐H 2 (iHE) battery delivers a long cycle life of 3300 h with ~98% capacity retention and a negligible Coulombic efficiency decay rate of 0.033% h −1 . Furthermore, the Ni‐H 2 (iHE) full cell achieves an energy cost of only one‐sixth that of the Ni‐H 2 (Pt@GDL) counterpart, together with an energy density of 179.5 Wh kg −1 . These results highlight the advantages of the iHE in activity, stability, scalability, and cost, demonstrating its potential for grid‐scale energy storage.
Article Details
Authors (18)
Shunxin Tan
Department of Applied Chemistry School of Chemistry and Materials Science Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui 230026 China
Peiyan Tong
Department of Applied Chemistry School of Chemistry and Materials Science Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui China
Xuzhi Zhang
Hongxu Liu
Department of Chemistry
Yameng Fan
School of Science
Shuyang Wei
Department of Applied Chemistry School of Chemistry and Materials Science Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui 230026 China
Guili Zhao
Department of Applied Chemistry School of Chemistry and Materials Science Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui 230026 P. R. China
Yidi Wang
Ziwei Zhang
Zhenshan Lv
Department of Applied Chemistry School of Chemistry and Materials Science Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui 230026 China
Zuodong Zhang
Department of Applied Chemistry School of Chemistry and Materials Science Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui China
Ruihao Luo
Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale
Jingwen Xu
Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale
Nan Zhang
Yangping Sheng
Key Laboratory of Consumer Lithium‐Ion Battery in Fujian Ningde Amperex Technology Limited (ATL) Ningde Fujian China
Rong Xu
Taoli Jiang
Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale
Wei Chen