Boron-Doped Catalyst for Water Electrolysis
Official patent title
Boron-doped Ag2WO4 nanoparticles for water electrolysis
Arabic title: جسيمات نانوية من Ag2WO4 مطعّمة بالبورون للتحليل الكهربائي للماء
Invention
Invention
Problem
Water electrolysis is constrained by energy-intensive oxygen evolution, while highly active noble-metal catalysts such as iridium, ruthenium, and platinum are scarce and expensive.
Why it matters
Improved electrocatalysts can lower kinetic barriers for hydrogen and oxygen evolution and support research toward more efficient hydrogen-production systems.
Approach
The method coats a working electrode with boron-doped silver tungstate nanoparticles and applies voltage in an aqueous electrochemical cell. The catalyst supports both hydrogen- and oxygen-evolution reactions with specified boron content, phase composition, overpotentials, active-surface-area, and Tafel-slope ranges.
Who may benefit
Potential beneficiaries include electrolyzer developers, hydrogen researchers, electrocatalyst manufacturers, electrochemistry laboratories, and renewable-energy storage teams.
Potential value
The technology provides a bifunctional, boron-doped silver-tungstate electrode catalyst with defined composition and laboratory electrochemical metrics for both sides of water splitting.
Background
Background
Hydrogen can store chemical energy without carbon in the fuel molecule, but water electrolysis includes oxygen- and hydrogen-evolution reactions with different activation kinetics. Oxygen evolution is particularly energy-intensive. Iridium, ruthenium, and platinum are active benchmark catalysts, yet scarcity and cost limit widespread use. Silver tungstate has been studied for photocatalysis and electrochemistry, although visible-light capture and charge separation can be limiting. The publication investigates boron doping as a route to modify silver tungstate for electrochemical water splitting.
Technology overview
Technology overview
Boron-doped Ag2WO4 nanoparticles containing specified proportions of boron and α/β crystallites coat a working electrode in an aqueous electrochemical cell. Applied voltage evolves hydrogen and oxygen. The disclosure reports OER and HER overpotential ranges at 10 mA·cm−2, electrochemical active-surface-area values, and anodic and cathodic Tafel slopes. Under laboratory testing, XRD, TEM, HRTEM, and XPS characterize crystal phases, morphology, and chemical states.
Potential applications
Potential applications
- Bifunctional electrode-catalyst research for alkaline water electrolysis.
- Hydrogen- and oxygen-evolution testing in laboratory electrochemical cells.
- Catalyst coatings for experimental electrolyzer electrodes.
- Doped silver-tungstate nanomaterials for renewable-energy research.
Evidence-supported advantages
Evidence-supported advantages
- One catalyst composition addresses both hydrogen and oxygen evolution.
- Boron content and α/β silver-tungstate phase proportions are defined.
- The publication reports overpotential, Tafel-slope, and active-surface-area metrics.
- Crystal structure, morphology, and chemical states are characterized by multiple techniques.
Development stage
Development stage
Laboratory nanoparticle characterization and electrochemical HER/OER measurements are described; stack-scale electrolyzer operation was not established.
Commercial opportunity
Commercial opportunity
The catalyst may interest electrolyzer and advanced-electrode partners. Scale-up requires benchmarking catalyst loading, silver and tungsten cost, synthesis yield, coating adhesion, long-duration current stability, Faradaic efficiency, gas purity, crossover, electrolyte tolerance, stack integration, recycling, and performance under industrial current densities.
Patent classifications
Patent classifications
WIPO IPC
- C25B11/077Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B1/04Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
CPC
- C25B11/037Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/091Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/054Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/077Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/052Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/075Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes for producing compounds or non-metals; apparatus therefor
- C25B11/093Electrolytic 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
- InventorSalah Ahmed Ibrahim Eid
- InventorBabiker Yagoub Elhadi Abdulkhair
Keywords
Keywords
- water electrolysis
- boron doping
- silver tungstate
- Ag2WO4
- oxygen evolution
- hydrogen evolution
- overpotential
- electrocatalyst
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.