Electrochemical study of iridium oxide materials for the oxygen evolution reaction in proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers
Résumé
Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers (PEMWE) is a promising hydrogen production technology due to its high efficiency and compact design that will make hydrogen energy more available [1]. However, the electrolyzer performance is impeded by the catalyst at the anode for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER), and this problematic motivates the search for new catalytic materials. The latter should possess high catalytic activity and long-term stability as state of art materials, RuO2 and IrO2 [2]. Also, diminishing the iridium loading in PEMWE is crucial, however, for its ability to combine electrical conductivity, activity, and stability, Ir-based materials are still attractive as anode material [3].
The present work concerns the electrochemical study of iridium oxide materials prepared by Coordinating Etching Precipitating (CEP) and by spray-drying process, the latter been recently investigated for catalysts for PEMWE [3]. The mixed-metal oxide materials obtained by both methods were subjected to different thermal treatments in the range 400–800 ºC. The electrochemical characterization was determine using the three-electrode electrochemical setup. Samples heated between 400–500 ºC presented the best performance as compared to commercial IrO2, showing at 10 mA/cm2 an overpotential range of 140-160 mV. These results demonstrate the possible use of the synthesis techniques to fabricate porous noble-metal oxides or catalysts for PEMWEs.
[1] S. Pei, W. Chao, J. San, S. Xueliang, Z. Jiu, Electrochemical Energy., Florida, CRC Press, 2016.
[2] E. Antolini, ACS Catal. 4 (2014), 1426.
[3] M. Faustini, M. Giraud, D. Jones, J. Rozière, M. Dupont, T. R. Porter, S. Nowak, M. Bahri, O. Ersen, C. Sanchez, C. Boissière, C. Tard, J. Peron, Adv. Energy Mater., 9 (2019), 1-11.