Electronic structure control of IrO2 via conjugated polymer support for highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

In this paper, we report synthesis of novel nanoparticle catalyst of iridium oxide supported on conjugated polymer along with evaluation of activity and durability for oxygen evolution reaction. The IrO _2 /poly(BIAN-thiophene)/TNT catalyst was prepared from iridium complex and poly(BIAN-thiophene)/TNT by hydrothermal method. The synthesized IrO _2 /poly(BIAN-thiophene)/TNT catalysts was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transfer-infrared spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical methods. The average particle size of the IrO _2 particles on poly(BIAN-thiophene)/TNT was 2.5 nm. The XPS measurement revealed that Ir complex was completely converted to iridium oxide through hydrothermal treatment. The IrO _2 /poly(BIAN-thiophene)/TNT catalyst showed sufficient performance for OER activity and durability in acidic condition. Our results indicate that IrO _2 /poly(BIAN-thiophene)/TNT is one of the prospective candidate catalysts for water splitting.

Keywords

• oxygen evolution reaction
• conjugated polymers
• electrocatalyst
• iridium