Boosting electrocatalytic performance via electronic structure regulation for acidic oxygen evolution

Qian Wu; Qingping Gao; Xingpeng Wang; Yuping Qi; Li Shen; Xishi Tai; Fan Yang; Xun He; Yan Wang; Yongchao Yao; Yuchun Ren; Yonglan Luo; Shengjun Sun; Dongdong Zheng; Qian Liu; Sulaiman Alfaifi; Xuping Sun; Bo Tang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.108738

Boosting electrocatalytic performance via electronic structure regulation for acidic oxygen evolution

iScience. 2023 Dec 18;27(1):108738. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108738. eCollection 2024 Jan 19.

Authors

Qian Wu¹, Qingping Gao², Xingpeng Wang², Yuping Qi¹, Li Shen¹, Xishi Tai¹, Fan Yang¹, Xun He³, Yan Wang³, Yongchao Yao³, Yuchun Ren³, Yonglan Luo³, Shengjun Sun⁴, Dongdong Zheng⁴, Qian Liu⁵, Sulaiman Alfaifi⁶, Xuping Sun^{3

4}, Bo Tang^{4

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Weifang University, Weifang 261061, Shandong, China.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Weifang Vocational College, Weifang 262737, Shandong, China.
³ Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, Sichuan, China.
⁴ College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, Shandong, China.
⁵ Institute for Advanced Study, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610068, Sichuan, China.
⁶ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Laoshan Laboratory, Qingdao 266237, Shandong, China.

Abstract

High-purity hydrogen produced by water electrolysis has become a sustainable energy carrier. Due to the corrosive environments and strong oxidizing working conditions, the main challenge faced by acidic water oxidation is the decrease in the activity and stability of anodic electrocatalysts. To address this issue, efficient strategies have been developed to design electrocatalysts toward acidic OER with excellent intrinsic performance. Electronic structure modification achieved through defect engineering, doping, alloying, atomic arrangement, surface reconstruction, and constructing metal-support interactions provides an effective means to boost OER. Based on introducing OER mechanism commonly present in acidic environments, this review comprehensively summarizes the effective strategies for regulating the electronic structure to boost the activity and stability of catalytic materials. Finally, several promising research directions are discussed to inspire the design and synthesis of high-performance acidic OER electrocatalysts.

Keywords: Energy materials; Materials chemistry; Physical chemistry.

Publication types

Review