Discovering Ce - rich
oxygen evolution catalysts, from high throughput screening to water electrolysis.
In a paper published last week in the journal Science, the research team presented
an oxygen evolution catalyst that worked in harsh conditions and beat all of its competitors.
The researchers are now working to make
their oxygen evolution catalyst more efficient and less expensive, as well as teasing out the physics of what makes the material work so well.
But knowing exactly where to put
this oxygen evolution catalyst (OEC) is a challenge: Putting it in the wrong place can hinder light absorption, weakening the anode's performance.
Not exact matches
An
oxygen -
evolution catalyst splits water into hydrogen and
oxygen.
Rice University scientists have created an efficient, simple - to - manufacture
oxygen -
evolution catalyst that pairs well with semiconductors for solar water splitting, the conversion of solar energy to chemical energy in the form of hydrogen and
oxygen.
«That's what his advance is pointing towards,» he says, «finding an alternative
catalyst that will allow us to do
oxygen evolution (breaking the bonds of water or H2O and forming
oxygen) in concert with hydrogen» on a grand scale.
While unstrained lanthanum nickelate is a
catalyst on its own for
oxygen evolution, the strained material is an even better
catalyst, enabling
oxygen reduction as well.
«We found a
catalyst that is very good at driving both the opposing
oxygen evolution reaction and the
oxygen reduction reaction,» said senior author Ho Nyung Lee of ORNL's Materials Science and Technology Division.
The performance of the new
catalyst was better than that of platinum, a noble metal that is known to excel at driving both
oxygen evolution and reduction reactions.
Jaramillo and his collaborators sought to develop a
catalyst for the
oxygen evolution reaction, the notoriously slow half of the water - splitting process.
The discovery builds upon the researchers» creation of a simple
oxygen -
evolution catalyst revealed earlier this year.
High throughput, multi-pH evaluation of earth - abundant pseudo-quaternary metal oxide
catalysts for the
oxygen evolution reaction J. Haber, D. Guevarra, R.J.R. Jones, K. Kan, J. Gregoire
Developing Novel Platinum Group Metal - Free
Catalysts for Alkaline Hydrogen and
Oxygen Evolution Reactions, Sanjeev Mukerjee and Serge Pann, Northeastern University
Using theory, modern surface - science methods, and synchrotron - based techniques, JCAP researchers seek to understand the reaction pathways and the elementary steps of the hydrogen and
oxygen evolutions reactions to facilitate the design of new, Earth - abundant
catalysts for solar - fuels production.