Confining chlorine in the cation solvation sheaths towards stable and sustainable seawater electrolysis
Abstract
Chlorine electro-oxidation represents the primary anode side reaction during direct seawater electrolysis, causing corrosion and permanent deactivation of catalyst and thereby insufficient stability. We report that in situ segregated fluorine can actuate the desolvation of cations and Cl ⁻ ions via strong H ∙ ∙ ∙ F bonding, leading to the formation of intimate cation-Cl ⁻ contact ion pairs that make Cl ⁻ migration toward electrode surface prohibited. Meanwhile, fluorine remaining in the cobalt-based catalyst shortens the Co–Co distance, attributable to its large electronegativity, triggering an oxide path mechanism that circumvents the nonideal scaling between OH * and OOH * during oxygen-evolving reaction. Direct seawater electrolysis (with 1 M NaOH) incorporating this catalyst achieves 1 ampere per square centimeter (A cm ⁻² ) at 1.7 volts and maintains at 0.5 A cm ⁻² and 60 °C over 2,450 hours degrading at 24.9 microvolts per hour. Our catalyst even survives repeatedly switched current densities (0.25, 0.5, and 1 A cm ⁻² ) for more than 1,250 hours, manifesting compatibility with fluctuating renewable electricity.
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BibTeX
@article{yu2026confining,
title = {{Confining chlorine in the cation solvation sheaths towards stable and sustainable seawater electrolysis}},
author = {Peng-Cheng Yu and Ye-Hua Wang and Xiao-Long Zhang and Shu-Ping Sun and Tao Fang and Xu-Ying-Nan Tao and Yu Yang and Jie Liao and Ye-Cheng Li and Zhuang-Zhuang Niu and Mei Sun and Ming-Hui Fan and Shou-Jie Liu and Fei-Yue Gao and Min-Rui Gao},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-78207-3},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78207-3},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Confining chlorine in the cation solvation sheaths towards stable and sustainable seawater electrolysis
AU - Peng-Cheng Yu
AU - Ye-Hua Wang
AU - Xiao-Long Zhang
AU - Shu-Ping Sun
AU - Tao Fang
AU - Xu-Ying-Nan Tao
AU - Yu Yang
AU - Jie Liao
AU - Ye-Cheng Li
AU - Zhuang-Zhuang Niu
AU - Mei Sun
AU - Ming-Hui Fan
AU - Shou-Jie Liu
AU - Fei-Yue Gao
AU - Min-Rui Gao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/17
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-78207-3
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78207-3
AB - Chlorine electro-oxidation represents the primary anode side reaction during direct seawater electrolysis, causing corrosion and permanent deactivation of catalyst and thereby insufficient stability. We report that in situ segregated fluorine can actuate the desolvation of cations and Cl ⁻ ions via strong H ∙ ∙ ∙ F bonding, leading to the formation of intimate cation-Cl ⁻ contact ion pairs that make Cl ⁻ migration toward electrode surface prohibited. Meanwhile, fluorine remaining in the cobalt-based catalyst shortens the Co–Co distance, attributable to its large electronegativity, triggering an oxide path mechanism that circumvents the nonideal scaling between OH * and OOH * during oxygen-evolving reaction. Direct seawater electrolysis (with 1 M NaOH) incorporating this catalyst achieves 1 ampere per square centimeter (A cm ⁻² ) at 1.7 volts and maintains at 0.5 A cm ⁻² and 60 °C over 2,450 hours degrading at 24.9 microvolts per hour. Our catalyst even survives repeatedly switched current densities (0.25, 0.5, and 1 A cm ⁻² ) for more than 1,250 hours, manifesting compatibility with fluctuating renewable electricity.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -