Issue 10, 2024

Waste iron-based disposable chemical warmer derived electrocatalyst for water splitting

Abstract

Recycling solid waste into electrocatalysts for renewable energy systems is crucial for sustainable development, achieving a win-win strategy for environmental remediation and waste utilization. The global use of iron-based disposable chemical warmers results in the generation of a significant amount of solid waste. This study demonstrates the upcycling of disposed iron-based chemical warmers into bifunctional Fe/Fe3O4/NC electrocatalysts. The synthesized catalysts exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Fe/Fe3O4/NC for HER and OER performance requires overpotentials of only 160 and 230 mV, respectively, to achieve 10 mA cm−2. This catalyst exhibited excellent bifunctional performance, achieving a low cell voltage of 1.53 V to reach a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for overall water splitting. The synergistic interaction of the metal–metal oxide (Fe–Fe3O4) interface and N-doped carbon significantly enhances the catalytic activity. This work synergistically addresses the sustainable utilization of waste materials, contributes to resource conservation, reduces energy consumption in iron ore mining processes, and mitigates environmental pollution.

Graphical abstract: Waste iron-based disposable chemical warmer derived electrocatalyst for water splitting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Jan 2024
Accepted
02 Apr 2024
First published
03 Apr 2024

Green Chem., 2024,26, 6100-6108

Waste iron-based disposable chemical warmer derived electrocatalyst for water splitting

K. S. Bejigo, R. S. A. Saravanan, K. Bhunia and S. Kim, Green Chem., 2024, 26, 6100 DOI: 10.1039/D4GC00008K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements