Preparation of Practical High‐Performance Electrodes for Acidic and Alkaline Media Water Electrolysis

• Published in: ChemSusChem Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. e202102114 - n/a
• Main Authors: Moon, Gun‐hee, Wang, Yue, Kim, Seongseop, Budiyanto, Eko, Tüysüz, Harun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 08.02.2022; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Cobalt oxides; electrocatalysis; Electrocatalysts; Electrodes; Electrolysis; Metal oxides; Nanoparticles; one-step synthesis; oxides; Oxygen evolution reactions; Substrates; water oxidation; nanoparticles; one-step synthesis; oxides; water oxidation; electrocatalysis
• ISSN: 1864-5631; 1864-564X; 1864-564X
• DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202102114

The synthesis of electrocatalyst and the electrode preparation were merged into a one‐step process and proved to be a versatile method to synthesize metal oxide electrocatalysts on the conductive carbon paper (CP). Very simply, the metal precursor deposited on the CP was thermally treated by a torch‐gun for just 6 s, resulting in the formation of RuO2, Co3O4, and mixed oxide nanoparticles. The material could be directly used as working electrode for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Compared with commercial and other state‐of‐the‐art electrocatalysts, the fabricated electrode showed a superior electrocatalytic activity for OER in 1 m HClO4 and 1 m KOH in terms of not only a low overpotential to reach 10 mA cm−2 but also a high current density at 1.6 VRHE with satisfying a long‐term stability. The novel strategy without requiring time‐consuming and uneconomical steps could be expanded to the preparation of various metal oxides on conductive substrates towards diverse electrocatalytic applications. Just a second: Synthesis of electrocatalyst and electrode preparation are merged into a one‐step process. Highly active and sustainable ruthenium‐ and cobalt‐based electrocatalysts are successfully formed on the conductive carbon substrates via a heat treatment within only 6 s. This leads to formation of small nanoparticles, which show outstanding catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction in both acidic and alkaline media.