Decreasing operating potential for water electrolysis to hydrogen via local confinement of iron-based soft coordination suprapolymers.

Currently there is intense interest in decreasing the operating potential for hydrogen evolution in water electrolysis to considerably decrease the energy cost. In this work we report a significant decrease of the operating potential for hydrogen evolution from neutral water mediated by an iron based soft coordination polymer (Fe(III)-SCSP). The creation of a local acidic environment with a thickness in the range of ~40 nm on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode allows enrichment of H(+) on the GCE, so that the operating potentials were effectively decreased. This strategy thus generates a new paradigm for lowering the operating potential of hydrogen generation from neutral water without the use of additional acids and organic cosolvents.