Metallization of 3D Printed Polymers and Their Application as a Fully Functional Water‐Splitting System

Abstract

In this work, the plating of high‐quality amorphous nickel–phosphorous coating with low resistivity of 0.45 µΩ m (298 K) on complex 3D printed polymeric structures with high uniformity is reported. Such a polymer metallization results in an effective conductivity of 4.7 × 10 4 S m −1 . This process also allows flexible structures to maintain their flexibility along with the conductivity. Octet‐truss structures with nickel–iron‐(oxo) hydroxide nanosheets electrodeposited onto further displays excellent water‐splitting performance as catalytic electrodes, i.e., in KOH ( 1 m , aq), a low oxygen evolution reaction (OER) overpotential of 197 mV at 10 mA cm −2 and Tafel slope of 51 mV dec −1 . Using this light‐weight electrode with high specific area, strength, and corrosion resistance properties, a fully functional water‐splitting system is designed and fabricated through the concentric integration of 3D printed components. A dense polymeric mesh implemented is also demonstrated as an effective separator of hydrogen and oxygen bubbles in this system.

Microlattice Metamaterials with Simultaneous Superior Acoustic and Mechanical Energy Absorption

“…This has since manifested research interests in microlattices, a new class of cellular material based on spatially‐distributed 3D architecture with sub‐millimeter sized cellular features (i.e., struts, plates, pores), [ 1 ] whose development is previously hampered by the lack of appropriate fabrication routes. Since then, microlattices have been gaining increasing research popularities as functional materials with enhanced performance for applications such as for catalysis, [ 2 ] energy harvesting, [ 3 ] strong and lightweight materials, [ 4 ] energy absorption, [ 5 ] sound absorption, [ 6 ] materials with meta‐behaviors, etc. [ 7 ] Amongst all, key functionalities as engineering materials lie with being lightweight and strong, having superior energy and sound absorptions’ properties.…”

Mechanochemically Assisted Synthesis of Ruthenium Clusters Embedded in Mesoporous Carbon for an Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…Electrocatalytic water splitting has been expected as a sustainable and efficient approach for large‐scale hydrogen production . To achieve this goal, one of the key prerequisite is to develop active, robust as well as low‐cost hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts .…”

“…Electrocatalytic water splitting has been expected as a sustainable and efficient approach for large-scale hydrogen production. [1][2][3][4][5] To achieve this goal, one of the key prerequisite is to develop active, robust as well as low-cost hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts. [6][7][8][9][10][11] Although precious metal platinum (Pt) has been widely studied as the state-of-theart HER electrocatalysts with low overpotential and excellent kinetics, the poor natural abundance and high cost of Pt pose formidable challenges for widespread deployment in practical water-splitting apparatus.…”

Fabricating Mechanically Robust Binder‐Free Structured Zeolites by 3D Printing Coupled with Zeolite Soldering: A Superior Configuration for CO2 Capture

“…[13,14] Self-supporting is the other strategy through freeze casting, [15] sacrificial templating, [16] quasi-solid gel crystallization, [17] pulsed current processing, [18] which is an effective approach to enhance the volume efficiency of the fixed bed reactor. [20][21][22][23] Various porous materials including porous ceramics, [24] porous polymers, [25] metalorganic frameworks, [26] and covalent organic frameworks [27] with complex self-supporting architectures have been successfully fabricated by 3D printing, particularly, 3D printing has proven to be an attractive strategy to tailor monolithic zeolite adsorbents and catalysts with hierarchical structures that are favorable for diffusions. [13,18,19] Recently, the unique capabilities of computer-aided additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, for accurate fabrication of geometries with customization, flexibility, and complexity, drive a revolution in the fields of biomedical engineering, energy, catalysis, and environment.…”

“…Recently, the unique capabilities of computer‐aided additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, for accurate fabrication of geometries with customization, flexibility, and complexity, drive a revolution in the fields of biomedical engineering, energy, catalysis, and environment . Various porous materials including porous ceramics, porous polymers, metal–organic frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks with complex self‐supporting architectures have been successfully fabricated by 3D printing, particularly, 3D printing has proven to be an attractive strategy to tailor monolithic zeolite adsorbents and catalysts with hierarchical structures that are favorable for diffusions . However, due to the difficulty of integrating individual zeolite crystals with robust interfacial binding, the practical use of 3D‐printed structured zeolites is severely restricted by their insufficient mechanical strength .…”