Rodney D. L. Smith1, Mathieu S. Prévot1, Randal D. Fagan1, Zhipan Zhang1, Pavel A. Sedach1, Man Kit Jack Siu1, Simon Trudel1, Curtis P. Berlinguette1
1Department of Chemistry and Centre for Advanced Solar Materials, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Canada T2N1N4.
Tóm tắt
Amorphous and More Active
The electrochemical generation of hydrogen from water could help in the storage of energy generated by renewable resources at off-peak times. However, catalysts for the slow step of this reaction, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), are based on oxides of noble metals (iridium and ruthenium) that have limited abundance. A strategy for improving the performance of earth-abundant elements is to explore mixed-metal oxides and to prepare these as amorphous phases.
Smith
et al.
(p.
60
, published online 28 March) developed a general method for preparing amorphous oxides, based on photodecomposition of organometallic precursors. Amorphous mixed-metal oxides of iron, nickel, and cobalt were more active than comparable crystalline materials and provided OER performance comparable to noble metal oxides.
