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.