Recent Development of Low Iridium Electrocatalysts toward Efficient Water Oxidation

Authors

Jing Ni, State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, College of Chemistry,Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P. R. China;
Zhao-Ping Shi, 1. State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytic Chemistry, Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Chemistry Power, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130022, China;2. School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;
Xian Wang, 1. State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytic Chemistry, Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Chemistry Power, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130022, China;2. School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;
Yi-Bo Wang, 1. State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytic Chemistry, Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Chemistry Power, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130022, China;2. School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;
Hong-Xiang Wu, 1. State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytic Chemistry, Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Chemistry Power, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130022, China;2. School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;
Chang-Peng Liu, 1. State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytic Chemistry, Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Chemistry Power, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130022, China;2. School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;Follow
Jun-Jie Ge, 1. State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytic Chemistry, Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Chemistry Power, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130022, China;2. School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;3. Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China;Follow
Wei Xing, 1. State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytic Chemistry, Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Chemistry Power, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130022, China;2. School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;Follow

Corresponding Author

Chang-Peng Liu(liuchp@ciac.ac.cn);
Jun-Jie Ge(gejj@ciac.ac.cn);
Wei Xing(xingwei@ciac.ac.cn)

Abstract

Developing high-performance and low-cost electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the key to implementing polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) for hydrogen production. To date, iridium (Ir) is the state-of-the-art OER catalyst, but still suffers from the insufficient activity and scarce earth abundance, which results in high cost both in stack and electricity. Design low-Ir catalysts with enhanced activity and stability that can match the requirements of high current and long-term operation in PEMWE is thus highly desired, which necessitate a deep understanding of acidic OER mechanisms, unique insights of material design strategies, and reliable performance evaluation norm, especially for durability. With these demand in mind, we in this review firstly performed a systematic summary on the currently recognized acidic OER mechanism on both activity expression (i.e. the adsorbate evolution mechanism, the lattice oxygen mediated mechanism and the multi-active center mechanism) and inactivation (i.e. active species dissolution, evolution of crystal phase and morphology, as well as catalyst shedding and active site blocking), which can provide guidance for material structural engineering towards higher performance in PEMWE devices. Subsequently, we critically reviewed several types of low-Ir OER catalysts recently reported, i.e. multimetallic alloy oxide, supported, spatially structured and single site catalysts, focusing on how the performance has been regulated and the underlying structure-performance relationship. Lastly, the commonly used indicators for catalyst stability evaluation, wide accepted deactivation characterization techniques and the lifetime probing methods mimicking the practical operation condition of PEMWE are introduced, hoping to provide a basis for catalyst screening. In the end, few suggestions on exploring future low-Ir OER catalysts that can be applied in the PEMWE system are proposed.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

oxygen evolution reaction, polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis, low-iridium, catalytic mechanism on activity and stability, evaluation criteria for operational stability

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.13208/j.electrochem.2214010

Publication Date

2022-09-28

Online Available Date

2022-08-17

Revised Date

2022-07-21

Received Date

2022-07-08

Recommended Citation

Jing Ni, Zhao-Ping Shi, Xian Wang, Yi-Bo Wang, Hong-Xiang Wu, Chang-Peng Liu, Jun-Jie Ge, Wei Xing. Recent Development of Low Iridium Electrocatalysts toward Efficient Water Oxidation[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2022 , 28(9): 2214010.
DOI: 10.13208/j.electrochem.2214010
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol28/iss9/3