Laser Synthesis of Iridium Nanospheres for Overall Water Splitting

Hai-Bin Wang; Jia-Qi Wang; Neli Mintcheva; Min Wang; Shuang Li; Jing Mao; Hui Liu; Cun-Ku Dong; Sergei  A. Kulinich; Xi-Wen Du

doi:10.3390/ma12183028

Materials (Sep 2019)

Laser Synthesis of Iridium Nanospheres for Overall Water Splitting

Hai-Bin Wang,
Jia-Qi Wang,
Neli Mintcheva,
Min Wang,
Shuang Li,
Jing Mao,
Hui Liu,
Cun-Ku Dong,
Sergei A. Kulinich,
Xi-Wen Du

Affiliations

Hai-Bin Wang: Institute of New-Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Jia-Qi Wang: Institute of New-Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Neli Mintcheva: Research Institute of Science and Technology, Tokai University, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa 259-1292, Japan
Min Wang: Institute of New-Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Shuang Li: Institute of New-Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Jing Mao: Institute of New-Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Hui Liu: Institute of New-Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Cun-Ku Dong: Institute of New-Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Sergei A. Kulinich: Research Institute of Science and Technology, Tokai University, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa 259-1292, Japan
Xi-Wen Du: Institute of New-Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12183028
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12, no. 18
p. 3028

Abstract

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Engineering surface structure of catalysts is an efficient way towards high catalytic performance. Here, we report on the synthesis of regular iridium nanospheres (Ir NSs), with abundant atomic steps prepared by a laser ablation technique. Atomic steps, consisting of one-atom level covering the surface of such Ir NSs, were observed by aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). The prepared Ir NSs exhibited remarkably enhanced activity both for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic medium. As a bifunctional catalyst for overall water splitting, they achieved a cell voltage of 1.535 V @ 10 mA/cm2, which is much lower than that of Pt/C-Ir/C couple (1.630 V @ 10 mA/cm2).

Published in Materials

ISSN: 1996-1944 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering; Technology: Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); Science: Natural history (General): Microscopy; Science: Physics: Descriptive and experimental mechanics
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/

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