As the global energy demand increases each year, it is important to develop new schemes for renewable energy. The most attractive alternative being the use of hydrogen as a fuel since its combustion is very clean. Water splitting with the help of solar energy is one way of obtaining hydrogen, but this process is slow and requires catalysts to proceed at a reasonable rate. In this work, zirconium phosphate (ZrP) is investigated as support for transition metals as catalyst systems for the oxidative half reaction of water splitting (the oxygen evolution reaction, OER). Two metal-modified ZrP catalyst systems were synthesized: metal-intercalated ZrP and metal-adsorbed ZrP, each involving Fe (II), Fe (III), Co (II), and Ni (II) cations. Characterization through X-ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm the incorporation of the metal cations either between the layers or on the surface of ZrP. Catalytic activity studies of both systems for the OER were performed using Rotating Disk Electrode (RDE) voltammetry using 0.1 M KOH as the electrolyte. All metal-modified systems are catalytically active, requiring between 0.5-0.7 V of overpotential to reach 10 mA/cm<sup>2</sup>, depending on the choice of metal cation, the M:ZrP molar ratio used during synthesis, and whether the metal was intercalated into or adsorbed onto ZrP Our findings indicate that the metal species that were supported within ZrP required similar or higher overpotentials to drive the OER when compared to their metal-adsorbed counterparts. This may result from differences in mass transport and/or electronic conductivity in the two systems.<br/><br/>

Water oxidation electrocatalysis by transition metals supported onto zirconium phosphate nanoparticles

254th National Meeting (2017)

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