Homogeneously dispersed multimetal oxygen-evolving catalysts

Abstract

Earth-abundant first-row (3d) transition metal-based catalysts have been developed for the oxygen-evolution reaction (OER); however, they operate at overpotentials substantially above thermodynamic requirements. Density functional theory suggested that non-3d high-valency metals such as tungsten can modulate 3d metal oxides, providing near-optimal adsorption energies for OER intermediates. We developed a room-temperature synthesis to produce gelled oxyhydroxides materials with an atomically homogeneous metal distribution. These gelled FeCoW oxyhydroxides exhibit the lowest overpotential (191 millivolts) reported at 10 milliamperes per square centimeter in alkaline electrolyte. The catalyst shows no evidence of degradation after more than 500 hours of operation. X-ray absorption and computational studies reveal a synergistic interplay between tungsten, iron, and cobalt in producing a favorable local coordination environment and electronic structure that enhance the energetics for OER.

Towards Versatile and Sustainable Hydrogen Production through Electrocatalytic Water Splitting: Electrolyte Engineering

“…Among the oxides composed of earth‐abundant materials, nickel–iron (oxy)hydroxide has been recently reconfirmed as a promising electrode in alkaline media 135, 136, 137, 138. In 2016, superior OER performance was revealed for the Ni–Co–W mixed oxyhydroxide, which requires an overpotential of only 191 mV to reach 10 mA cm −2 in 1.0 mol L −1 NaOH,139 and for Au‐supported NiCeO x , which reaches 10 mA cm −2 at an overpotential of 271 mV in 1.0 mol L −1 NaOH 140…”

Atomically Thin 2D Multinary Nanosheets for Energy‐Related Photo, Electrocatalysis

“…However, the catalytic efficiency is still far from ideal and one of the significant factors that limit the practical utilization is the sluggish reaction kinetics of oxygen evolution half‐reaction 71, 72. Studies found that coupling effect between ultrathin structure construction and multinary component tuning can create outstanding OER performance 73.…”

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“…For example, in the field of clean technology, soft (SGM) and hard X-ray techniques (HXMA) can bring new insight to important modern energy questions including the production of hydrogen from water splitting for fuel cell operations by better understanding more efficient catalysts that can be produced from abundant low-cost metals [10].…”