The Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) is carried out daily through photosynthesis. During this process, water is split into oxygen and hydrogen, which can be stored as chemical fuel for later use. Sustainable and clean energy is desperately needed in today’s world, so being able to obtain and store these chemical fuels is very important. The problem with OER is that a four electron transfer is required, which makes the kinetics highly unfavorable. Most successful catalysts for OER contain precious metals such as Ir and Pt, which are expensive and thus are not a prudent choice for mass production. Some research has been conducted on LiMPO4 catalysts, where M is a transition metal with a +2 oxidation state. Transition metals are abundant and therefore cheap, so it would be ideal to synthesize a LiMPO4 catalyst whose performance is competitive with previous leading catalysts. Several different LiMPO4 catalysts were successfully synthesized, and their structure and morphology were determined using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The performance of the catalysts were tested using Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). The best performing catalyst, LiCoPO4, was delithiated, and the performance was improved.

Picking up the pace: Improving oxygen evolution reaction catalysts

249th National Meeting (2015)

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