Function of Internal and External Fe in a Ni-Based Precatalyst System Toward Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Regulating the thickness of the carbon coating layer in iron/carbon heterostructures to enhance the catalytic performance for oxygen evolution reaction

The exploration of high-performance electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial and urgent for the fast development of green and renewable hydrogen energy. Herein, an ultra-fast and energy-efficient preparation strategy (microwave-assisted rapid in-situ pyrolysis of organometallic compounds induced by carbon nanotube (CNT)) is developed to obtain iron/carbon (Fe/C) heterogeneous materials (Fe/Fe₃C particles wrapped by carbon coating layer). The thickness of the carbon coating layer can be adjusted by changing the content and form of carbon in the metal sources during the fast preparation process. Fe/Fe₃C-A@CNT using iron acetylacetonate as metal sources possesses unique Fe/C heterogeneous, small Fe/Fe₃C particles encapsulated by the thin carbon coating layer (1.77 nm), and obtains the optimal electron penetration effect. The electron penetration effect derives from the redistribution of charge between the surface carbon coating layer and inner Fe/Fe₃C nanoparticles efficiently improving both catalytic activity and stability. Therefore, Fe/Fe₃C-A@CNT shows efficient OER catalytic activity, just needing a low overpotential of 292 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm^-2, and long-lasting stability. More importantly, the unique control strategy for carbon thickness in this work provides more opportunity and perspective to prepare robust metal/carbon-based catalytic materials at the nanoscale.

Ultrafine IrRu Nanoparticles toward Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Media

Proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs) are capable of mass-producing green hydrogen with renewable and wave-trough electricity, but confront the challenge of the lack of advanced electrocatalysts to accelerate sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, we report the synthesis of ultrafine IrRu alloy nanoparticles (1.6 ± 0.3 nm) by coprecipitation of IrCl₃, RuCl₃, and HCOONa in water to allow Ir³⁺ and Ru³⁺ to be well dispersed and enclosed in the matrix of crystalline HCOONa, followed by heat treatment of HCOONa to reduce Ir³⁺ and Ru³⁺. Remarkably, the overpotential of IrRu toward acidic OER at 10 mA cm^-2 is merely 230 and 194 mV at 51 and 204 μg_IrRu cm^-2, respectively. The high electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of 577.1 m² g^-1 and high specific activity (SA) of 22.7 μA cm^-2 at 1.45 V vs RHE would contribute to the exceptional OER activity. In addition, the electron transfer from Ir to Ru in IrRu should significantly boost the OER activity according to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). IrRu also shows an excellent stability during 10 h of a chronopotentiometry (CP) test at 10 mA cm^-2. Eventually, the high OER activity of IrRu was verified in a PEMWE.