Boosting high-current alkaline water electrolysis and carbon dioxide reduction with novel CuNiFe-based anodes

Nusrat Rashid; Shurui Yang; Galyam Sanfo; Isabelle Ewing; Zahra Ibrahim Albu; Xinjuan Li; Tianhao Wu; Prajna Bhatt; Mathieu Prevot; Laurent Piccolo; Mahmoud Zendehdel; Robert G. Palgrave; Caterina Ducati; Mojtaba Abdi-Jalebi

arXiv · 2602.08183

Boosting high-current alkaline water electrolysis and carbon dioxide reduction with novel CuNiFe-based anodes

Nusrat Rashid·Shurui Yang·Galyam Sanfo·Isabelle Ewing·Zahra Ibrahim Albu·Xinjuan Li·Tianhao Wu·Prajna Bhatt·Mathieu Prevot·Laurent Piccolo·Mahmoud Zendehdel·Robert G. Palgrave·Caterina Ducati·Mojtaba Abdi-Jalebi

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Abstract

The transition to a green hydrogen economy demands robust, scalable, and sustainable anodes for alkaline water electrolysis operating at industrial current densities (>1 A/cm2). However, achieving high activity and long-term stability under such conditions remains a formidable challenge with conventional catalysts. Here, we report a novel trimetallic CuNiFe anode fabricated through a rapid, single-step electrodeposition process at room temperature without organic additives. The catalyst exhibits an exceptionally low overpotential of <270 mV at 100 mA cm(-2) and operates stably for over 500 hours at 1 A cm(-2) in 30 wt% KOH. In a practical anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEM-WE), the CuNiFe anode enables a current density of 2.5 A cm(-2) at only 2.5 V, with a voltage efficiency of 66.8%. Beyond water splitting, this anode also significantly enhances CO2 electrolysis, tripling the CO2 reduction current density and steering selectivity toward valuable multi-carbon products when paired with commercial copper cathodes. A cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment confirms that the CuNiFe anode reduces the carbon footprint by an order of magnitude and decreases environmental impacts by 40-60% across multiple categories compared to benchmark IrRuO2. Our work establishes a scalable, high-performance, and environmentally benign anode technology, paving the way for cost-effective electrochemical production of green hydrogen and carbon-neutral chemicals.

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Nusrat Rashid, Shurui Yang, Galyam Sanfo, Isabelle Ewing, Zahra Ibrahim Albu, Xinjuan Li, Tianhao Wu, Prajna Bhatt, Mathieu Prevot, Laurent Piccolo, Mahmoud Zendehdel, Robert G. Palgrave, Caterina Ducati, Mojtaba Abdi-Jalebi. 2026-02-09. Boosting high-current alkaline water electrolysis and carbon dioxide reduction with novel CuNiFe-based anodes. https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.08183

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