Interfacial and Vacancy Engineering on 3D-Interlocked Anode Catalyst Layer for Achieving Ultralow Voltage in Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer.

Developing a high-efficiency and stable anode catalyst layer (CL) is crucial for promoting the practical applications of anion exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolyzers. Herein, a hierarchical nanosheet array composed of oxygen vacancy-enriched CoCrO nanosheets and dispersed FeNi layered double hydroxide (LDH) is proposed to regulate the electronic structure and increase the electrical conductivity for improving the intrinsic activity of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The CoCrO/NiFe LDH electrodes require an overpotential of 205 mV to achieve a current density of 100 mA cm, and they exhibit long-term stability at 1000 mA cm over 7000 h.

Theoretical calculation assisted materials screening of BiOX (X = F, Cl, Br, I) for electrochemical absorption of cesium ions.

The electrochemical switching ion exchange (ESIX) technique has been widely used for the separation and recovery of radioactive cesium ions (Cs) from wastewater. In this study, a series of BiOX (X = F, Cl, Br, I) materials were first evaluated for their absorption properties to Cs through density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The calculations predict that BiOBr has the best absorption performance among the four materials, BiOF, BiOCl, BiOBr, and BiOI, due to its high absorption energy and low ion migration energy barrier to Cs.