Importance of the oxyl character on the IrO2 surface dependent catalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction

The oxygen evolution reaction catalyst optimization is hindered because in the desirable acidic conditions the sole active catalysts are RuO and IrO. Thus, the understanding of the factors controlling the reactivity of these materials is mandatory. In this contribution, DFT (PBE-D2) periodic calcula...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: González, Danilo|||0000-0002-2316-2016, Heras-Domingo, Javier|||0000-0002-4322-3146, Sodupe, Mariona|||0000-0003-0276-0524, Rodríguez-Santiago, Luis|||0000-0003-4983-4228, Solans-Monfort, Xavier|||0000-0002-2172-3895
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:251944
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/251944
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.jcat.2021.02.026
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Oxygen evolution reaction
IrO2
Metal-oxyl species
DFT
Descripción
Sumario:The oxygen evolution reaction catalyst optimization is hindered because in the desirable acidic conditions the sole active catalysts are RuO and IrO. Thus, the understanding of the factors controlling the reactivity of these materials is mandatory. In this contribution, DFT (PBE-D2) periodic calculations are performed to analyze the catalytic activities of the main ((1 1 0), (0 1 1), (1 0 0) and (0 0 1)) IrO surfaces. Results show that the reaction only occurs if the Ir=O species on the surfaces exhibit an oxyl character. The water nucleophilic attack mechanism is the most favorable pathway on the (1 1 0), (1 0 0) and (0 0 1) surfaces. In contrast, for the (0 1 1) facet the oxo-coupling is preferred. The required overpotentials for the four IrO surfaces depend on the feasibility to oxidize the Ir-OH to Ir-O species and this is tuned by the coordination of the unsaturated iridium sites: the (1 0 0) and (0 0 1) surfaces appear to be more active than the (1 1 0) and (0 1 1).