Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Environments – Reaction Mechanisms and Catalysts

The low efficiency of the electrocatalytic oxidation of water to O 2 (oxygen evolution reaction‐OER) is considered as one of the major roadblocks for the storage of electricity from renewable sources in form of molecular fuels like H 2 or hydrocarbons. Especially in acidic environments, compatible with the powerful proton exchange membrane (PEM), an earth‐abundant OER catalyst that combines high activity and high stability is still unknown. Current PEM‐compatible OER catalysts still rely mostly on Ir and/or Ru as active components, which are both very scarce elements of the platinum group. Hence, the Ir and/or Ru amount in OER catalysts has to be strictly minimized. Unfortunately, the OER mechanism, which is…

• DF
  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

  Awards: STR 596/4‐1/‐2, STR 596/3‐1/‐2