Volume 60, Issue 52 pp. 27126-27134
Research Article

Engineering Lattice Oxygen Activation of Iridium Clusters Stabilized on Amorphous Bimetal Borides Array for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Chen Wang

Chen Wang

State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Search for more papers by this author
Panlong Zhai

Panlong Zhai

State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Search for more papers by this author
Mingyue Xia

Mingyue Xia

Laboratory of Materials Modification by Laser, Ion and Electron Beams, Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Search for more papers by this author
Yunzhen Wu

Yunzhen Wu

State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

Search for more papers by this author
Bo Zhang

Bo Zhang

State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

Search for more papers by this author
Zhuwei Li

Zhuwei Li

State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

Search for more papers by this author
Dr. Lei Ran

Dr. Lei Ran

State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

Search for more papers by this author
Prof. Dr. Junfeng Gao

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Junfeng Gao

Laboratory of Materials Modification by Laser, Ion and Electron Beams, Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

Search for more papers by this author
Xiaomeng Zhang

Xiaomeng Zhang

State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

Search for more papers by this author
Zhaozhong Fan

Zhaozhong Fan

State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

Search for more papers by this author
Prof. Dr. Licheng Sun

Prof. Dr. Licheng Sun

State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels, School of Science, Westlake University, Hangzhou, 310024 P. R. China

School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 10044 Stockholm, Sweden

Search for more papers by this author
Prof. Dr. Jungang Hou

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Jungang Hou

State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, 2, Linggong Road, Dalian, 116024 P. R. China

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 09 October 2021
Citations: 176

Graphical Abstract

Iridium clusters stabilized surface reconstructed oxyhydroxides on an amorphous metal boride array are reported, achieving an ultralow overpotential of 178 mV at 10 mA cm−2 for OER in alkaline medium. The coupling of iridium clusters induces the formation of high-valence cobalt species and Ir–O–Co bridges between iridium and oxyhydroxides at the atomic scale.

Abstract

Developing robust oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts requires significant advances in material design and in-depth understanding for water electrolysis. Herein, we report iridium clusters stabilized surface reconstructed oxyhydroxides on amorphous metal borides array, achieving an ultralow overpotential of 178 mV at 10 mA cm−2 for OER in alkaline medium. The coupling of iridium clusters induced the formation of high valence cobalt species and Ir–O–Co bridge between iridium and oxyhydroxides at the atomic scale, engineering lattice oxygen activation and non-concerted proton-electron transfer to trigger multiple active sites for intrinsic pH-dependent OER activity. The lattice oxygen oxidation mechanism (LOM) was confirmed by in situ 18O isotope labeling mass spectrometry and chemical recognition of negative peroxo-like species. Theoretical simulations reveal that the OER performance on this catalyst is intrinsically dominated by LOM pathway, facilitating the reaction kinetics. This work not only paves an avenue for the rational design of electrocatalysts, but also serves the fundamental insights into the lattice oxygen participation for promising OER application.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.