High Density and Unit Activity Integrated in Amorphous Catalysts for Electrochemical Water Splitting

Abstract

Electrochemical water splitting is regarded as a most effective hydrogen production technique. In fact, quite a few exceptional electrocatalysts, processes, and even large‐scale demonstrations have been developed. In particular, some amorphous catalysts have become well‐known for their extraordinary performance on account of their disordered structure, numerous, uniformly distributed active sites with high unit activity and better stability that outshine their single‐crystalline counterparts. Herein, a review of recent research advances of amorphous catalysts used in electrocatalytic water splitting are provided, including both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Particularly, the scaled‐up application of amorphous catalysts with multifarious compositions and diverse heterostructures in electrolyzing water and the reason why amorphous catalysts exhibit excellent catalytic performance are emphasized on. In addition, the mechanism of water electrolysis and the evaluation criteria of catalytic properties are analyzed in detail. Finally, the broader development outlook of amorphous catalysts is discussed.

Boosting Charge Transport in BiVO4 Photoanode for Solar Water Oxidation

“…To further improve the PEC performance perspective from η transfer , cobalt borate (CoBi) as a well-defined oxygen evolution cocatalyst was deposited on the surface of Bi 1−x VO 4 photoanodes. [43,44] XRD pattern, Raman shift, UV-vis spectra, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of the CoBi/Bi 1−x VO 4 show ignorable influences on the crystal structure and morphology of Bi 1−x VO 4 (Figures S23-S26, Supporting Information). HAADF-STEM-EDX images of the CoBi/Bi 1−x VO 4 show the homogeneous distribution of Bi, O, V, and Co (Figure 5a).…”

Self‐Supporting Electrodes for Gas‐Involved Key Energy Reactions

“…Electrochemical water‐splitting is considered an attractive approach to store renewable energy and hydrogen, for a substitute of traditional fossil fuels. [ 25,292–295 ] The resulting products can be applied in numerous aspects, especially in the renewable energy conversion devices (e.g., fuel cells), healthcare industry, and metallurgy industry. HER and OER take place simultaneously while applying an appropriate potential in a water‐splitting device.…”

Triple captured iron by defect abundant NiO for efficient water oxidation

“…Concretely, for the first aspect, the earliest research on the effect of iron content can be traced back to the 1980s, when Corrigan's team found that even 0.01% iron could reduce the overpotential of NiO and improve the OER activity. 18 Similarly, Fe species that are uniformly located on edge/defect sites play a more significant role than those on bulk. 19 For the second aspect, under alkaline conditions, many OER materials including Fe-NiO x H y would suffer from substantial surface dissolution, which means that high OER activity is generally at the expense of continuing metal dissolution, resulting in thermodynamic instability.…”