Integrated Bundle Electrode with Wettability-Gradient Copper Cones Inducing Continuous Generation, Directional Transport, and Efficient Collection of H2 Bubbles.

ABSTRACT

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), as an efficient process of converting various energies into high-purity hydrogen, has attracted much attention from both scientific research studies and industrial productions. However, its wide applications still confront considerable difficulties, for example, bubble coverage on the electrode and bubble dispersion in the electrolyte, which will disturb current distribution and isolate active sites from reaction ions resulting in a high reaction overpotential and large Ohmic voltage drop. Consequently, timely removing the generated gas bubbles from the electrode as well as avoiding their direct release into the electrolyte can be an effective approach to address these issues. In this work, we have developed an elegant electrode, that is, the integrated bundle electrode with wettability-gradient copper cones, which is endowed with the multifunctions of continuous generation, direct transport, and efficient collection of hydrogen bubbles. All processes are proceeding on the electrode, which not only remove the generated hydrogen bubbles efficiently but also prevent the hydrogen bubbles from releasing into the electrolyte, which should greatly advance the development of water electrolysis and offer inspirations for people to fabricate more efficient HER devices.