Doping Shortens the Metal/Metal Distance and Promotes OH Coverage in Non-Noble Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction Catalysts

Acidic water electrolysis enables the production of hydrogen for use as a chemical and as a fuel. The acidic environment hinders water electrolysis on non-noble catalysts, a result of the sluggish kinetics associated with the adsorbate evolution mechanism, reliant as it is on four concerted proton-electron transfer steps. Enabling a faster mechanism with non-noble catalysts will help to further advance acidic water electrolysis. Here, we report evidence that doping Ba cations into a Co3O4 framework to form Co3–xBaxO4 promotes the oxide path mechanism and simultaneously improves activity in acidic electrolytes. Co3–xBaxO4 catalysts reported herein exhibit an overpotential of 278 mV at 10 mA/cm2 in 0.5 M H2SO4…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• OR
  Ontario Research Foundation
• GO
  Government of Ontario
• CF
  Canada Foundation for Innovation
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

  Award: P500PN_202906
• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 51771132, 52204320
• MO
  Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China
• UO
  University of Toronto
• MO
  Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan

  Awards: NSTC 110-2113-M-009-007-MY2, 111-2628-M-A49-007
• NT
  National Taiwan University
• NS
  National Science and Technology Council
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
• NR
  Natural Resources Canada