The understanding how specific metal ions alter the activity for electrocatalytic reactions is critical for discovering new materials in electrocatalysis. Transition metal doping of cobalt based oxide materials with transition metals has been shown to increase the activity for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER). We sought to capitalize on this effect by systematically altering the dopant concentration for a variety of metal ions to discern how these metal ions affect the OER activity. Vanadium incorporation into a Co3O4 parent material was shown to drastically improved activity for the OER, especially when normalized for specific area. However, upon analyzing the material after electrolysis, we observed the complete removal of vanadium from the electrode surface. This new material formed during electrolysis suggests that vanadium does not play a role in the catalysis, as was hypothesized elsewhere in the literature. This work highlights the critical importance of catalyst analysis both before and after electrochemistry to ensure catalytic integrity and to determine that conclusions about catalytic improvements are accurate.

The importance of postmortem analysis in electrocatalysis: A case study with CoV2O4 for the oxygen evolutionrReaction

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.