Iridium–Nickel Nanoparticle-Based Aerogels for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

ACS Applied Nano Materials, vol. 5, pp. 18060–18069

Abstract

Iridium is considered the state-of-the-art electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic media owing to its considerably high activity and stability, yet it is a raw material that is expensive and rare. Here we present a synthesis of a bimetallic hollow aerogel structure based on iridium and nickel prepared by a very simple and environmentally friendly method. Our electrocatalyst was evaluated for the OER in a single electrolysis cell, and it showed an improvement in electrocatalytic performance over time, reaching the current density of commercial IrO 2 after 500 h of the stability test, despite half the catalyst loading. Our innovative synthesis approach provides the flexibility to tailor and improve the aerogel structures for other electrochemical devices as well, for example, photoelectrolysis, sensors, and more. In addition, we believe that this study can lead to a better understanding of the fundamental behavior of bimetallic electrocatalysts consisting of mixed compositions with transition metals.

Authors 5

1. Seong-Eun Park

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

2. Nikolai Utsch

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

3. Marcelo Carmo

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Queen's University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada

4. Meital Shviro corresponding

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

5. Detlef Stolten Aachen Chair for Fuel Cells

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Chair for Fuel Cells, RWTH Aachen University, 52062 Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Techno-economic Systems Analysis (IEK-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany