Sc-Doped Mn₂O₃ from a Permanganate Precursor for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Nonprecious metal catalysts are crucial for electrocatalytic water oxidation.
• Manganese oxides are promising catalysts, inspired by natural photosynthesis.
• Improving manganese oxide performance for oxygen evolution remains a key challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop enhanced manganese oxide catalysts for electrocatalytic water oxidation.
• To investigate the effects of scandium (Sc) doping on manganese oxide performance.
• To explore precursor-mediated doping strategies for catalyst improvement.

Main Methods:

• Preparation of Sc-doped permanganate precursor.
• Annealing the precursor with an organic cation to create mesoporous structures.
• Synthesis of Sc-Mn2O3 catalysts via precursor-mediated doping.

Main Results:

• Sc-Mn2O3 catalysts exhibited improved electrocatalytic water oxidation performance.
• Sc3+ substitution induced lattice expansion and regulated the electronic structure of Mn.
• Mesoporous structures and increased oxygen vacancies were observed, enhancing catalytic activity.

Conclusions:

• Precursor-mediated doping of Sc is an effective strategy to enhance electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in Mn-based materials.
• Synergistic effects of mesoporosity, lattice modification, and electronic structure tuning improve catalytic efficiency.
• This approach offers a new pathway for developing high-performance nonprecious metal catalysts for water oxidation.