Bifunctional Catalyst for Water Splitting
Official patent title
Electrocatalytic water splitting using α-Ag2WO4@Mn3O4 nanocomposites
Arabic title: شطر الماء تحفيزيًا كهربائيًا باستخدام مركبات نانوية من α-Ag2WO4@Mn3O4
Invention
Invention
Problem
Water electrolysis needs catalysts for both hydrogen and oxygen evolution that balance activity, charge transfer, material availability, durability, and electrode integration.
Why it matters
A bifunctional catalyst could simplify evaluation of both half-reactions in alkaline water-splitting systems and support development of hydrogen-production electrodes.
Approach
The electrocatalyst places silver-core/silver-tungstate-shell nanoparticles on manganese-oxide nanoparticles and applies controlled potentials in hydroxide electrolyte for hydrogen evolution or oxygen evolution.
Who may benefit
Potential beneficiaries include electrolyzer and electrode developers, hydrogen research laboratories, electrocatalyst manufacturers, energy-materials groups, and specialty nanoparticle producers.
Potential value
The platform uses one α-Ag2WO4@Mn3O4-family nanocomposite for both HER and OER and supplies composition, oxidation-state, porosity, resistance, Tafel, overpotential, and turnover-frequency ranges.
Background
Background
Noble-metal electrocatalysts such as Pt, RuO2, and IrO2 can be active in water splitting but face availability and cost constraints. Manganese oxides are studied as alternatives because they offer multiple oxidation states and surface sites, although Mn3O4 has limited conductivity and surface area and can perform unevenly between oxygen and hydrogen evolution. The patent combines manganese-oxide nanoparticles with silver-containing core–shell particles whose outer phase is crystalline α-Ag2WO4, producing a porous composite evaluated for both HER and OER in hydroxide electrolyte.
Technology overview
Technology overview
The catalyst contains 50–70 wt.% silver-containing nanoparticles and 30–50 wt.% manganese-oxide nanoparticles, including Mn3O4 and MnO2, with an Ag:Mn ratio of 0.1:1–1:1. The silver phase has an Ag core and α-Ag2WO4 shell. Claimed surface area is 32.5–50 m2/g, charge-transfer resistance 325–450 Ω, Tafel slope 55–125 mV/dec for HER and 45–125 mV/dec for OER, and overpotential 0.05–200 mV at 10 mA/cm2. Potentials are −300 to −1 mV vs RHE for HER and 1000–2200 mV for OER.
Potential applications
Potential applications
- Potential use in alkaline-electrolyzer electrode research.
- Potential use as a bifunctional HER/OER catalyst platform.
- Potential use in laboratory hydrogen- and oxygen-generation studies.
- Potential use in comparative testing of manganese-oxide electrocatalysts.
Evidence-supported advantages
Evidence-supported advantages
- Addresses both hydrogen and oxygen evolution with one catalyst composition.
- Defines metal ratios, manganese oxidation states, porosity, and electrochemical metrics.
- Uses a silver-core/α-Ag2WO4-shell structure on manganese oxide.
- Reports mass activity and turnover-frequency ranges for follow-up comparison.
Development stage
Development stage
Patent publication with reported electrochemical characterization and HER/OER testing; long-duration electrolyzer validation, scale-up, and commercialization were not established.
Commercial opportunity
Commercial opportunity
The catalyst may support sponsored validation with electrolyzer, electrode, or energy-materials developers. Scale-up should verify metric definitions and units, catalyst synthesis yield, electrode loading, gas purity, Faradaic efficiency, long-duration current stability, cycling, corrosion, silver and tungsten dissolution, alkaline compatibility, catalyst recovery, balance-of-plant integration, and cost per hydrogen output.
Patent classifications
Patent classifications
WIPO IPC
- C25B1/04Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/037Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
CPC
- C25B11/061Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/091Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/065Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/054Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/052Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/037Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/077Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/067Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B1/04Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- Y02E60/36Reduction of greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions related to energy generation, transmission or distribution
Inventors
Inventors
- First inventorMohamed Khairy Abdel Fattah Omran
- InventorMohamed Mokhtar Mohamed
- InventorSamar Mohamed Syam
- InventorBabiker Yagoub Elhadi Abdulkhair
Keywords
Keywords
- water splitting
- electrocatalyst
- α-Ag2WO4
- Mn3O4
- hydrogen evolution
- oxygen evolution
- Tafel slope
- alkaline electrolyte
Patent document and drawings
Patent document and drawings
The patent publication is mapped to this record. Patent drawings remain within that publication; no separately cleared public media package has been supplied.