Abstract
The realization of multi-energy water oxidation systems is impeded by the challenge of integrating multiple energy inputs. Here, we overcome this limitation via ultrasonic pre-treatment of the electrolyte, which triggers a mechano-electrochemical coupling effect through piezoelectric polarization. This process promotes a Grotthuss-type OH− state that weakens O-H bonds and increases the interfacial OH− concentration, thereby influencing the electrochemical reconstruction of Ni(OH)2 to NiOOH and modifying water electrolysis pathways. These changes enhance Ni-O covalency and synergistically activate two low-energy water oxidation pathways on NiOOH involving lattice oxygen: one couples lattice oxygen with adsorbed oxygen, while the other facilitates direct lattice oxygen-oxygen coupling. Both routes bypass the high-energy *OOH intermediate typical of the conventional adsorbate evolution mechanism (*OH → *O → *OOH → O2), with the latter also avoiding *O adsorption entirely. Notably, just one minute of ultrasonic stimulation reduces the overpotential by 222 mV at 100 mA cm-2. This pulsed-energy strategy thus offers an efficient and scalable approach to realizing multi-energy-enhanced water splitting.
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Acknowledgements
This work was primarily supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Nos. 22409089 (Y. L.), 52272082 (J. K.), 52272217 (S. Y.), 51872135 (S. Y.), 51572121 (S. Y.) and 21633004 (S. Y.)], the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20250031, J. K.), the Scientific and Technological Innovation Project of Carbon Emission Peak and Carbon Neutrality of Jiangsu Province (No. BE2022028-1, S. Y.), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD, C. L.). The numerical calculations in this paper have been performed on the computing facilities in the High Performance Computing Center (HPCC) of Nanjing University.
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Y.L., S.Y., and J.K. conceived and designed the research. C.L., J.K., and S.Y. supervised and coordinated the project. Y.L., S.W., and S.Y. wrote the manuscript with critical input from all co-authors. Y.D. performed the theoretical calculations. S.W., M.Y., Y.C., and T.M. performed the experimental work and data collection under Y.L.’s guidance. Y.L., S.W., and M.Y. conducted data analysis and interpretation. All authors participated in manuscript revision and approved the final version.
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Li, Y., Wang, S., Yuan, M. et al. Piezoelectric activation of dual lattice-oxygen mechanism through OH− Grotthuss transport in water electrolysis. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70979-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70979-y
