State-of-the-art catalysts for electrocatalytic splitting of water are compounds of noble metals such as Pt, Ru, or Ir. To counter the low abundance and high cost of such metals, extensive research efforts are focused on finding more alternative, more sustainable catalysts that rely on the first row transition metals. In this vein, our group investigates the catalytic potential of layered intermetallics (LIMs), in which 3d-metal containing layers alternate with layers of main-group element which serve as an inert conductive support. We hypothesize that LIMs can serve as efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) or hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts by exposing the catalytically active transition metal sites through partial etching of the main group element layers under harsh acidic and basic conditions of these reactions. Recent reports demonstrated the validity of such methodology by electrocatalytic HER over partial etched AlMoB. Our studies focused on a similar LIM, AlFe2B2, known for its remarkable magnetocaloric effect near room temperature. In this contribution, we demonstrate that AlFe2B2 acts as exceptional OER electrocatalyst, outperforming such benchmarks as RuO2 and IrO2. In addition to the excellent catalytic performance, this material has remained remarkably stable under severe catalytic conditions, providing nearly constant OER rate for over 300 hours. The possible extension of our approach to other LIM structures will also be discussed.

AlFe2B2 as water oxidation electrocatalyst

2019 Spring National Meeting

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