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Ultrasmall Abundant Metal-Based Clusters as Oxygen-Evolving Catalysts
Xin-Bao Han1, Xing-Yan Tang1, Yue Lin
1State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, and Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering , Xiamen University , Xiamen , 361005 , China.
Journal of the American Chemical Society
|December 13, 2018
Summary
Researchers developed a new molecule-to-cluster method to create ultrasmall, cost-effective trimetallic catalysts for efficient oxygen evolution in water electrolysis, advancing renewable energy solutions.
Area of Science:
- Catalysis
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
Background:
- Noble metal catalysts are effective for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) but are expensive and scarce.
- Water electrolysis is key for clean and renewable energy production.
- Developing cost-effective and highly active OER catalysts is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report a novel molecule-to-cluster strategy for synthesizing ultrasmall trimetallic clusters.
- To investigate the catalytic performance of these clusters for the oxygen evolution reaction.
- To demonstrate a new pathway for creating well-defined subnanometer transition-metal clusters.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a polyoxometalate molecule as a precursor.
- Employed a molecule-to-cluster strategy to synthesize trimetallic clusters.
- Characterized the resulting ultrafine (0.8 nm) transition-metal clusters with controllable composition.
Main Results:
- Achieved ultrasmall (0.8 nm) transition-metal clusters with controlled chemical composition.
- Demonstrated highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media.
- Catalyst exhibited an overpotential of 192 mV at 10 mA cm⁻², a Tafel slope of 36 mV dec⁻¹, and 30 h stability.
Conclusions:
- The molecule-to-cluster strategy successfully produced efficient and stable OER catalysts.
- The developed trimetallic clusters offer a cost-effective alternative to noble metals.
- The synthesis method has potential applications beyond OER catalysis.
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