Key Takeaways & Executive Findings
- •• • The NiCoV electrode achieves an overpotential of only 253 mV at -400 mA cm−2, outperforming most Pt-based catalysts and enabling energy-efficient hydrogen production at industrial current densities. • • Stability exceeds 200 hours at 400 mA cm−2, with no apparent degradation, ensuring long-term operational reliability for continuous industrial electrolysis. • • In a scaled-up electrolyzer, the NiCoV cathode reduces cell voltage by 50 mV compared to commercial Raney nickel, leading to energy savings of 0.12 kWh per cubic meter of hydrogen produced. • • For a medium-scale plant producing 1000 tons H2/year, the technology saves 1.33 × 10^6 kWh annually and cuts CO2 emissions by 770.26 tons, offering both economic and environmental benefits.
Abstract
Alkaline water electrolysis is a pivotal technology for large-scale green hydrogen production, yet its efficiency is constrained by sluggish hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) kinetics at industrial current densities. Here, we propose a synergistic dual-doping strategy to lower kinetic barriers for both Volmer and Heyrovsky steps. A robust amorphous NiCoV nanosheet electrode was synthesized via scalable one-step electrodeposition. In situ spectroscopic and kinetic characterizations reveal that hydrophilic V species optimize interfacial water by disrupting the hydrogen bond network, ensuring rapid supply of free water at the inner Helmholtz plane. Co dopants modulate electronic structure to facilitate electron transfer and optimize intermediate adsorption energetics. The NiCoV electrode requires an ultralow overpotential of 253 mV at -400 mA cm−2, surpassing most Pt-based catalysts, and maintains stability for over 200 h. Industrial validation in a scaled-up electrolyzer demonstrates a cell voltage of 1.89 V at 400 mA cm−2, achieving energy savings of 0.12 kWh m−3 H2 compared to commercial benchmarks. This translates to annual electricity savings of 1.33 × 10^6 kWh for a medium-scale demonstration project, highlighting immense potential for sustainable industrial applications.
1. Introduction
Commercial alkaline water electrolyzers still rely on Raney nickel cathodes developed in the 1960s, which suffer from high energy consumption exceeding 4.8 kWh m−3 H2 at current densities above 300 mA cm−2. The sluggish kinetics of the hydrogen evolution reaction, particularly the Volmer step, are exacerbated by the rigid hydrogen-bond network of interfacial water, limiting reactant supply at high current densities. This bottleneck prevents existing systems from meeting the demands of intermittent renewable-powered operation, which requires high current loads (250–400 mA cm−2) and resilience to reverse currents.
This work addresses these limitations by engineering a NiCoV amorphous nanosheet electrode via scalable electrodeposition. The dual-doping strategy synergistically optimizes both interfacial water dynamics and electronic structure: hydrophilic V species disrupt the hydrogen bond network to ensure rapid water supply, while Co dopants modulate electron transfer and intermediate adsorption. This approach directly tackles the kinetic barriers of the Volmer and Heyrovsky steps, enabling ultrastable performance at industrial current densities and demonstrating significant energy savings in a scaled-up electrolyzer.
Loading authentic research manuscript (Pages 1–5)...
Zhaoyang Shi, Xiaotong Wan, Penghui Huang, Yuxiang Guo, Zhe Wang, Yang Yang, Sirui Huang, Danji Huang, Youwen Liu, Tianyou Zhai (2026). Tuning interfacial water supply and electron transfer enables industrial-scale alkaline hydrogen evolution. SCIENCE CHINA Materials. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-025-4036-4
Research & Educational Purpose Only: The translations, structured abstracts, analytical annotations, and data reports provided by SinoGreenTechare intended exclusively for academic research, internal corporate R&D, and educational benchmarking. They do not constitute formal engineering, chemical safety, legal, or professional advice.
Copyright & Intellectual Property Notice: Original copyright of the underlying source articles and experimental data remains with the respective authors, institutions, and original publishing journals. SinoGreenTech claims intellectual property only over its proprietary translations, analytical syntheses, and AEO structured enhancements in accordance with international fair use and academic citation principles.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the long-term stability of the NiCoV electrode under industrial operating conditions, including start-stop cycling?
The NiCoV electrode maintains stable operation at 400 mA cm−2 for over 200 hours without apparent degradation. It also exhibits exceptional durability against reverse currents during start-stop cycling, as demonstrated in the study.
How does the NiCoV electrode's performance compare to commercial Raney nickel in terms of energy consumption and cost?
In a scaled-up electrolyzer, the NiCoV cathode achieves a cell voltage of 1.89 V at 400 mA cm−2, which is 50 mV lower than commercial Raney nickel. This translates to energy savings of 0.12 kWh per cubic meter of hydrogen, and for a medium-scale plant, annual electricity savings of 1.33 × 10^6 kWh.
What is the scalability of the electrodeposition synthesis method for industrial production?
The NiCoV electrode is fabricated via a scalable one-step electrodeposition process, which is compatible with roll-to-roll manufacturing and can be easily scaled up for industrial production. The method is cost-effective and reproducible.
What are the specific roles of V and Co dopants in enhancing HER kinetics?
V species are hydrophilic and disrupt the hydrogen bond network of interfacial water, ensuring a rapid supply of free water reactants at the inner Helmholtz plane, which accelerates the Volmer step. Co dopants modulate the electronic structure, facilitating efficient electron transfer and optimizing adsorption energetics of intermediates, thereby enhancing the Heyrovsky step.
What is the environmental impact of adopting this technology in terms of CO2 reduction?
Calculations based on electricity carbon footprint indicate that replacing Raney nickel with the NiCoV electrode can reduce CO2 emissions by 770.26 tons per year for a plant producing 1000 tons of hydrogen annually, assuming renewable energy sources.
Related Chinese Research & Cross-Citations
Ammonium Vanadate Cathodes in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries: Design Strategies and Research Progress
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) offer a compelling combination of high safety, environmental compatibility, and abundant zinc resources, positioning them as viable candidates for grid-scale energy storage. Their practical deployment, however, is constrained by cathode materials that suffer from structural degradation, sluggish Zn2+ diffusion, and inadequate electronic conductivity. Ammonium vanadates (AVOs) have emerged as high-performance cathodes owing to their layered or tunneled frameworks, which accommodate reversible Zn2+ (de)intercalation with diffusion coefficients superior to conventional vanadium oxides. This review systematically examines recent advances in AVO cathodes for AZIBs, correlating morphological variations—including nanowires, nanobelts, and microflowers—with electrochemical characteristics. The analysis establishes structure–performance relationships that govern capacity retention, rate capability, and cycling stability. Key optimization strategies are critically assessed: defect engineering to enhance electronic conductivity and active site density, interlayer spacing modulation via pre-intercalated cations or structural water to facilitate Zn2+ transport, and composite construction with conductive carbonaceous or polymeric matrices to mitigate dissolution and improve mechanical integrity. Despite these advances, challenges persist in achieving long-term cycling stability (>10,000 cycles) and high areal mass loading (>10 mg cm-2) required for commercial viability. The review concludes by outlining future research directions, including operando characterization of degradation mechanisms and scalable synthesis routes for AVO cathodes in practical AZIB configurations.
Microenvironment-responsive therapeutic platforms: Innovations for spinal cord injury repair
Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a formidable clinical challenge due to the complex, dynamic lesion microenvironment that impedes axonal regeneration and functional recovery. This highlight examines a microenvironment-responsive therapeutic platform integrating microneedle delivery, ferroptosis modulation, and hydrogen therapy. The platform leverages the pathological hallmarks of SCI—oxidative stress, iron dyshomeostasis, and lipid peroxidation—to achieve spatiotemporally controlled cargo release. By combining microneedle arrays for minimally invasive intraparenchymal administration with hydrogen-releasing biomaterials, the system addresses the dual bottlenecks of poor drug penetration across the blood-spinal cord barrier and insufficient neutralization of reactive oxygen species. Ferroptosis inhibition is achieved through iron chelation and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) stabilization, while hydrogen gas scavenges hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite. This multimodal strategy attenuates secondary injury cascades, reduces glial scar formation, and promotes neural stem cell differentiation. The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82574518) and the Talent Cultivation Project of Paring Academicians with Young Talents in higher education institutions in Zhejiang. The authors declare no conflict of interest. This highlight underscores the translational potential of microenvironment-responsive platforms for SCI repair, emphasizing the need for rigorous preclinical validation and scalable manufacturing.
Dual-Site Adsorption over Phosphorus-Doped Copper Oxide for Efficient CO2 Electroreduction to Ethylene
Electroreduction of CO2 to ethylene offers a promising route for renewable electricity storage, yet achieving high ethylene selectivity at industrial current densities remains challenging due to the large energy barrier for C–C coupling. Here, we report a “MOF-assisted in situ doping” strategy to introduce the oxophilic nonmetal phosphorus (P) into the copper oxide (CuO) lattice, constructing a localized Cu–P dual-site adsorption configuration for the key *OCCHO intermediate. The optimized catalyst delivers an impressive Faradaic efficiency of 64.6% for ethylene with a partial current density of 646 mA cm-2. Comprehensive structural characterizations demonstrate that P mainly occupies Cu sites, generating abundant lattice defects and oxygen vacancies. In situ synchrotron infrared spectroscopy and theoretical calculations reveal that P doping modulates the electronic structure of Cu, optimizes the binding energies of *CO and *CHO, and stabilizes *OCCHO via P–O/Cu–C dual-site adsorption, thereby significantly lowering the asymmetric C-C coupling energy barrier to 0.74 eV. This work highlights a dual-site microenvironment regulation strategy for CO2-to-ethylene electroreduction.
Hydrophilic Single-Atom Interface Unlocks Low-Potential CO Removal on Pt in PEMFCs
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) fed with reformate hydrogen suffer severe anode poisoning by trace CO, necessitating high CO electrooxidation potentials that degrade performance and durability. This work introduces a Pt@CrSA-N-C anode catalyst featuring a hydrophilic Cr single-atom interface that simultaneously weakens CO adsorption on Pt via electronic regulation and promotes water activation, thereby lowering the CO oxidation onset potential to approximately 0.13 V vs. RHE. The onset potential was determined by two independent methods: the first potential at which the background-corrected current exceeds 0 mA cm-2 during CO oxidation reaction tests in a three-electrode system, and the potential at which the forward scan current exceeds the N2 background current in CO-stripping voltammetry. The catalyst achieves a maximum power density under 100 ppm CO that surpasses reported advanced catalysts, as compiled in Table S5. Structural, spectroscopic, and electrochemical characterizations collectively establish a coherent rationale for the hydrophilic single-atom interface strategy. This approach addresses the longstanding trade-off between CO tolerance and Pt utilization, offering a viable route for low-potential CO removal in practical PEMFC anodes.
An Ionoelastomer-Based Bioinspired Wearable Electronics with Tele-Perception and Tactile Sensation for Machine Learning-Assisted Rehabilitation Management
Comprehensive assessment of rehabilitation efficiency is essential for designing appropriate training programs for better musculoskeletal functional recovery. Existing contact-receptor-dependent rehabilitation assessment systems mostly focus on assessing the restoration of muscle function by evaluating grip strength or joint flexion angle; however, parameters reflecting neuromuscular synergistic function are always overlooked. Herein, we develop an ionoelastomer-based soft artificial electroreceptor (SAER) that integrates tele-perception and tactile sensation to track the rehabilitation process, collecting signals related to approaching speed and grip strength sequentially. The SAER uses polyurethane ionoelastomer incorporated with quasi-solid conductive salt as the electric field receptor, and is integrated on a rehabilitation-training ball after assembly to establish an untethered detection device; this enables the remote capture of hand approaching parameter within a 9 cm range, followed by the quantification of grip strength when contacting and grasping. Furthermore, a data-driven assessment system is established by integrating machine learning, which accurately classifies rehabilitation efficiency into six levels; it supports for rehabilitation evaluation and training programs adjustment. Overall, the SAER-based rehabilitation management system establishes a paradigm that synergistically evaluating parameters corresponding to neuromuscular functional restoration and holds strong potential for home-based active rehabilitation for minimizing dependence on frequent clinical supervision.
Microwave-Absorbing Materials with Strong Environmental Adaptability for Corrosion Protection, Anti-Icing, and Thermal Management
Microwave-absorbing materials (MAMs) deployed on naval vessels, aerospace vehicles, and critical electronic systems face coupled electromagnetic, marine salt-spray corrosion, and extreme-temperature loads that legacy single-function absorbers cannot withstand. This review consolidates progress on three environmentally adaptive MAM classes: corrosion-protective, anti-icing, and thermal-management absorbers. The electromagnetic loss and impedance-matching fundamentals are first established, then the synergistic mechanisms, design strategies, and characterization protocols for each class are examined against representative material systems and their measured performance. The analysis identifies a shared design logic—multiscale hierarchical architecture, interfacial polarization engineering, and multifunctional phase integration—while distinguishing the divergent protection mechanisms: barrier and passivation effects for corrosion, surface-energy and latent-heat regulation for anti-icing, and phonon–electron transport decoupling for thermal management. Persistent bottlenecks include the trade-off between impedance matching and protective-layer density, the absence of standardized coupled-field test protocols, and the scarcity of long-term salt-spray and thermal-cycling durability data. Future directions are delineated: intelligent self-adaptive absorbers, multiphysics-coupled simulation frameworks, and environmentally benign multifunctional integration. The review provides a theoretical and technical basis for the design, construction, and engineering scale-up of next-generation high-performance absorbers for aerospace, electronic, and marine equipment.