A Study On Decreasing The Anodic Overvoltage In Alkaline Water Electrolysis By Additive

Hydrogen is a clean energy resource. Water electrolysis is one of the best way to produce hydrogen. Nowadays the energy consumption of water electrolysis is great yet. Exploring an energy effective method of water electrolysis is of importance. The greatest energy consumption part of the electrolysis process consists in anodic oxidation. In order to enhance the efficiency of anodic oxidation, reducing the anodic overpotential is the key factor.In this paper, we have presented water electrolysis on Ni electrodes in KOH solution enhanced by many varieties of surfactants, such as CTAB, Triton X-100, Aliquat 336^?, et al. Through comparisons of the anodic polarization curves with different concentration of surfactants in KOH solution, the effective additive is found which can decrease the anodic overvoltage and be almost free hydrogen evolution. Accordingly, water electrolysis is accelerated by the enhancement of oxygen evolution by means of introduction of surfactants. The mechanics of the enhancement was also discussed. The solvent reorganization barrier is estimated to be the dominant contribution to the overall activation barrier. In order to lower the solvent reorganization barrier of oxygen evolution, Aliquat 336^? was introduced into the water electrolysis based on Ni electrode. The enhancement effect of Aliquat 336^? on oxygen evolution was also observed in KOH solution with different concentration. The addition of Aliquat 336^? is almost free from hydrogen evolution. Accordingly, water electrolysis is accelerated by the enhancement of oxygen evolution by means of introduction of Aliquat 336^?.