TY - JOUR
KW - Materials
KW - Devices
KW - Electrolyzer
AU - Dongyu Xu
AU - Michaela Burke Stevens
AU - Monty R Cosby
AU - Sebastian Z Oener
AU - Adam M Smith
AU - Lisa J Enman
AU - Katherine E Ayers
AU - Christopher B Capuano
AU - Julie N Renner
AU - Nemanja Danilovic
AU - Yaogang Li
AU - Hongzhi Wang
AU - Qinghong Zhang
AU - Shannon W Boettcher
AB - <p><span>Anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis is a promising technology to produce hydrogen through the splitting of pure water. In contrast to proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) technology, which requires precious-metal oxide anodes, AEM systems allow for the use of earth-abundant anode catalysts. Here we report a study of first-row transition-metal (oxy)hydroxide/oxide catalyst powders for application in AEM devices and compare physical properties and performance to benchmark IrO</span><span><em>x</em></span><span>&nbsp;catalysts as well as typical catalysts for alkaline electrolyzers. We show that the catalysts’ oxygen-evolution activity measured in alkaline electrolyte using a typical three-electrode cell is a poor indicator of performance in the AEM system. The best oxygen-evolution-reaction (OER) catalysts in alkaline electrolyte, NiFeO</span><span><em>x</em></span><span>H</span><span><em>y</em></span><span>&nbsp;oxyhydroxides, are the worst in AEM electrolysis devices where a solid alkaline electrolyte is used along with a pure water feed. NiCoO</span><span><em>x</em></span><span>-based catalysts show the best performance in AEM electrolysis. The performance can be further improved by adding Fe species to the particle surface. We attribute the differences in performance in part to differences in the electrical conductivity of the catalyst phases, which are also measured and reported.</span></p>
BT - ACS Catalysis
DA - 11/2018
DO - 10.1021/acscatal.8b04001
IS - 1
LA - eng
N2 - <p><span>Anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis is a promising technology to produce hydrogen through the splitting of pure water. In contrast to proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) technology, which requires precious-metal oxide anodes, AEM systems allow for the use of earth-abundant anode catalysts. Here we report a study of first-row transition-metal (oxy)hydroxide/oxide catalyst powders for application in AEM devices and compare physical properties and performance to benchmark IrO</span><span><em>x</em></span><span>&nbsp;catalysts as well as typical catalysts for alkaline electrolyzers. We show that the catalysts’ oxygen-evolution activity measured in alkaline electrolyte using a typical three-electrode cell is a poor indicator of performance in the AEM system. The best oxygen-evolution-reaction (OER) catalysts in alkaline electrolyte, NiFeO</span><span><em>x</em></span><span>H</span><span><em>y</em></span><span>&nbsp;oxyhydroxides, are the worst in AEM electrolysis devices where a solid alkaline electrolyte is used along with a pure water feed. NiCoO</span><span><em>x</em></span><span>-based catalysts show the best performance in AEM electrolysis. The performance can be further improved by adding Fe species to the particle surface. We attribute the differences in performance in part to differences in the electrical conductivity of the catalyst phases, which are also measured and reported.</span></p>
PY - 2019
SP - 7 
EP -  15
ST - ACS Catal.
T2 - ACS Catalysis
TI - Earth-Abundant Oxygen Electrocatalysts for Alkaline Anion-Exchange-Membrane Water Electrolysis: Effects of Catalyst Conductivity and Comparison with Performance in Three-Electrode Cells
VL - 9
SN - 2155-5435
ER -