4. Conclusions
In summary, we developed a two-step strategy for enhancing the
performance of water splitting by attenuating the bubble evolution
induced overpotential. First, a rough surface with superaerophobicity
was fabricated to attenuate the bubble adhesive force by immobilizing
nanosheet-shaped catalysts on Ni foam pores. Then, flow field was
introduced to accelerate the bubble detachment and enhance the contact
between catalysts and electrolyte. As a result, the obvious enhancement
of HER/OER performance can be achieved under the condition of
electrolyte flowing through the electrode pores. Besides, an assessment
of electrolyzer assembled with flow-through electrodes was also
proposed. The energy consumption of 5 kWh Nm-3 can be
achieved at industrial current density (over hundreds of current
density). However, it is worth noticing our flow-through electrodes have
not immobilized those state-of-the-art catalysts. Hence, there remains
room for further performance improvements. Finally, we posit that this
strategy can be applied not only for water splitting, but also for those
gas evolution reactions involved to improve electrochemical performance.