Dynamic chloride ion adsorption on single iridium atom boosts seawater oxidation catalysis.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38438342.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-46140-y and PMC identifier 10912682.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Seawater electrolysis offers a renewable, scalable, and economic means for green hydrogen production. However, anode corrosion by Cl<sup>-</sup> pose great challenges for its commercialization. Herein, different from conventional catalysts designed to repel Cl<sup>-</sup> adsorption, we develop an atomic Ir catalyst on cobalt iron layered double hydroxide (Ir/CoFe-LDH) to tailor Cl<sup>-</sup> adsorption and modulate the electronic structure of the Ir active center, thereby establishing a unique Ir-OH/Cl coordination for alkaline seawater electrolysis. Operando characterizations and theoretical calculations unveil the pivotal role of this coordination state to lower OER activation energy by a factor of 1.93. The Ir/CoFe-LDH exhibits a remarkable oxygen evolution reaction activity (202 mV overpotential and TOF = 7.46 O<sub>2</sub> s<sup>-1</sup>) in 6 M NaOH+2.8 M NaCl, superior over Cl<sup>-</sup>-free 6 M NaOH electrolyte (236 mV overpotential and TOF = 1.05 O<sub>2</sub> s<sup>-1</sup>), with 100% catalytic selectivity and stability at high current densities (400-800 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>) for more than 1,000 h.