Carbon Nitride Materials as Efficient Catalyst Supports for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers

Ana Belen Jorge; Ishanka Dedigama; Thomas S Miller; Paul Shearing; Daniel J L Brett; Paul F McMillan

doi:10.3390/nano8060432

Carbon Nitride Materials as Efficient Catalyst Supports for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2018 Jun 13;8(6):432. doi: 10.3390/nano8060432.

Authors

Ana Belen Jorge¹, Ishanka Dedigama², Thomas S Miller³, Paul Shearing⁴, Daniel J L Brett⁵, Paul F McMillan⁶

Affiliations

¹ Materials Research Institute, School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS, UK. a.sobrido@qmul.ac.uk.
² Electrochemical Innovation Lab, Roberts Building, Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, UK. ishanka.dedigama.09@ucl.ac.uk.
³ Electrochemical Innovation Lab, Roberts Building, Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, UK. t.miller@ucl.ac.uk.
⁴ Electrochemical Innovation Lab, Roberts Building, Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, UK. p.shearing@ucl.ac.uk.
⁵ Electrochemical Innovation Lab, Roberts Building, Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, UK. d.brett@ucl.ac.uk.
⁶ Christopher Ingold Building, Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK. p.f.mcmillan@ucl.ac.uk.

Abstract

Carbon nitride materials with graphitic to polymeric structures (gCNH) were investigated as catalyst supports for the proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers using IrO₂ nanoparticles as oxygen evolution electrocatalyst. Here, the performance of IrO₂ nanoparticles formed and deposited in situ onto carbon nitride support for PEM water electrolysis was explored based on previous preliminary studies conducted in related systems. The results revealed that this preparation route catalyzed the decomposition of the carbon nitride to form a material with much lower N content. This resulted in a significant enhancement of the performance of the gCNH-IrO₂ (or N-doped C-IrO₂) electrocatalyst that was likely attributed to higher electrical conductivity of the N-doped carbon support.

Keywords: carbon nitride; electrocatalyst; oxygen evolution reaction; support; water electrolyzer; water oxidation.