Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis Based on Nickel Ferrite Catalysts

Abstract

A nickel ferrite was prepared by a liquid-phase method and used as an oxygen evolution catalyst in an anion exchange membrane electrolyser. A complete physicochemical characterization of the catalyst was performed through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Then, the nickel ferrite was deposited by spray coating technique onto a Fumasep® FAA3-50 anion-exchange membrane to realize a catalyst-coated membrane (CCM), and tested in a 5 cm2 single cell setup in the so-called zero-gap configuration. At 60 °C and 2.2 V, a current density of 3 A/cm2 was reached, which is higher than that obtained with NiO and IrO2 commercial catalysts. Moreover, a chronoamperometric test of 120 h highlighted the good stability of the synthesized catalyst.