Graduate student Le Hoang Minh has successfully completed his Master’s thesis defense

The Master's thesis of Le Hoang Minh with the titled “Synthesis and study on the water-splitting activity of MnO₂ materials deposited on nickel foam” has successfully developed a high-performance, self-supported electrode system for alkaline water electrolysis via a simple, low-cost, and environmentally friendly one-step hydrothermal method. Through a reaction-specific design strategy decoupled from a common MnO₂ precursor, the author successfully fabricated a birnessite-type MnO₂ anode with a 3D hierarchical porous nanoflower morphology (MnO₂/NF)  and a phosphorus-modified cathode ($5%-P- MnO₂/NF) featuring a semi-amorphous structure.

The structural and electronic modulation via 5% P-doping induced the formation of strongly polarized P–O–Mn bonds, which act as an electronic "pincer" to facilitate the dissociation of the O–H bond in water at the cathode. Remarkably, when these two self-supported (binder-free) electrodes were integrated into an overall water-splitting system, the electrolyzer required a cell voltage of only 1.47 V to reach a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² and exhibited impressive stability for over 100 continuous hours of operation at a high current density of 50 mA cm⁻² with a measured Faradaic efficiency of over 97%. Furthermore, the discovery of an in-situ electrochemical self-activation mechanism opens up a highly promising avenue for next-generation self-healing catalytic systems.

♻️ The findings of this thesis contribute significantly to overcoming the intrinsic drawbacks of traditional manganese oxide materials (such as poor electrical conductivity and a high water-dissociation energy barrier), while providing a low-cost solution for sustainable green hydrogen production, aiming towards clean energy technology autonomy and carbon emission reduction in Vietnam.

📘 The candidate was highly commended by the Thesis Defense Committee, receiving absolute consensus and praise for the rigorous academic depth and outstanding practical value of the work. During his studies, the candidate successfully published one international scientific paper in a prestigious Q1-ranked journal of the American Chemical Society: ACS Applied Energy Materials (published July 2026).