A Functional Hybrid Aerogel Electrocatalyst Decorated with Salt Resistance Zwitterionic Polymer for Enhanced Seawater Electrolysis and Sustainable Solar Harvesting

Developing active and stable electrocatalysts for oxygen evolving reaction is of great significance to oxygen production from seawater electrolysis, which however remains some issues that high energy consumption and chloride corrosion. Here we pioneered a polymer/inorganic hybrid engineering strategy for achieving excellent salt resistance and oxygen evolution performance (OER). The La0.9Sr0.1CoO3/Ni foam−cellulosic aerogel (LSC1/NF−CA) was synthesized by engineering Trimethylamine N−oxide (TMAO) polymer brush onto the surface of hybrid aerogels composed of La0.9Sr0.1CoO3/Ni foam (LSC1/NF) and cellulose/polyvinyl alcohol, which has good hydrophilic features, intrinsic solar capture capacity, and stable OER performance in alkaline salty water. Specifically, the LSC1/NF−CA catalysts required a low overpotential of 379 mV with a tafel slope of 73.8 mV dec−1 to deliver a current density of 10 mA cm−2. Benefiting from the synergy effect of solar desalination with surface hydration effect of TMAO, the LSC1/NF−CA presented a superior catalytic activity, requiring a lower overpotential of 341 mV and a tafel slope of 58.2 mV dec−1 at 10 mA cm−2 under 6.0 sun illumination. Our results establish a new strategy that can guide the design of stable and efficient polymer/inorganic hybrid catalysts, which shows a promising prospect as alternatives to noble metal–based catalysts for seawater splitting.