The electrochemical splitting of water is an efficient way to produce green hydrogen as a means of storing and transporting energy. Water electrolysis is driven by the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), but the poor kinetics of this reactions means that an electrocatalyst is required for this process to occur with high productivity. The current standard for electrocatalysts are platinum group metal catalysts, but the scarce availability of these metals makes these catalysts cost prohibitive on a larger scale. In the pursuit of inexpensive and earth abundant alternatives, transition metals oxides, particularly those using Ni, Fe, and Mn, have shown considerable promise as electrocatalysts; however, successful catalyst design may be further aided through an increased understanding of surface science and structure/property relationships with mixed metal oxides. Here, we have investigated and designed new methods to synthesize transition metal oxides with rock salt structures, particularly NiO, with specific facets such as (111) and (100) to determine the effects of surface morphology in electrocatalysis. Additionally, different synthetic methods to produce ternary mixed metal oxides such as FeNiO, including using solution phase cation exchange to synthesize rock salt structures with controlled morphologies will be discussed.

Nanostructured faceted mixed transition metal oxide electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction

ACS Spring 2022

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