10/25/2016

Panorama - Research collaboration discovers new catalyst for water electrolysis - Renewable Energy Magazine, at the heart of clean energy journalism

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panorama
Octubre2016
Contents

Research collaboration discovers new catalyst for

water electrolysis

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RobinWhitlock
Wednesday,30March2016

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ResearchersfromtheSkoltechInstituteofScienceandTechnology,UniversityofTexasatAustinandMIThavemade
adiscoverythatcouldenableaffordablehydrogengenerationfromrenewableenergy
The researchers have discovered a new catalyst that
significantlyimprovestheefficiencyofwaterelectrolysisin
alkaline conditions. Electrolysis of water to oxygen and
hydrogen is crucial to enabling emerging renewable
energy technologies for the production of hydrogen.
Currently, there are a number of challenges for the
widespreadadoptionofwaterelectrolysers,includinghigh
energy consumption, high cost and limited durability. For
example, the use of expensive precious metals such as
platinumandiridiumlimitsimplementationatlargescale.
Energy security combined with environmental problems
such as climate change have encouraged the development of advanced energy storage and conversion systems,
including the development of higher power and more energy dense storage devices, such as lowtemperature
regenerative fuel cells and rechargeable metalair batteries. These operate through the electrocatalysis of oxygen,
involving the electrolysis of water through oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the reduction of molecular oxygen
through oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). These processes both require the use of an electrocatalyst due to their
slowreaction.ThemostactivecatalystsforORRarePtalloysandotherpreciousmetals.However,theformationof
anoxidesurfacefilmathighpotentials,especiallyinthecaseofPt,decreasestheirabilitytocatalysetheOER.This
problem, coupled with the scarcity and restrictive cost of Pt group metals represent major roadblocks to the mass
adoptionoffuelcellsandmetalairbatteriesinrenewableenergytechnologies.
Thegenerationofoxygenfromwaterremainsasignificantbottlenecktodevelopmentofwaterelectrolysersandalso
in the development of fuel cell and metalair battery technologies said Tyler Mefford, a graduate student at the
UniversityofTexasatAustinandleadauthorofthestudy.IfwecoulddevelopcatalystsmadewithEarthabundant
materialsthatcouldreversiblyandefficientlyelectrolyzewaterintohydrogenandoxygen,wecouldhaveaffordable
hydrogen generation from renewables and with that the possibility of electric cars that run on water with ranges
similar to gas powered cars. To develop these catalysts, we need to understand at the atomic level how these
processesproceedandwhatfactorsofthecatalystsinfluencetheirperformance.

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In order to overcome the limitations of current materials, the research team, led by Professor Keith Stevenson,
synthesized a series of cobalt based perovskite oxide catalysts where the properties of the materials could be
controllably modified by the substitution of the element strontium into the catalyst structure. Collaborations with
Professor Alexei Kolpak from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Professor Artem Abakumov from
Skolkovo Institute of Technology enabled the team to precisely measure the surface and bulk properties of the
catalystsandmodelhowthealkalinewaterelectrolysisreactionproceeds.
Twocrucialparameterswereidentifiedasimportanttotheperformanceoftheresultantcatalyststhecovalencyof
thecobaltoxygenbond,orhowcloseinenergytheelectronsincobaltaretotheelectronsinoxygen,andtheamount
ofoxygenvacancies,sitesinthecrystalstructurethatshouldgenerallyhaveanoxygenatombutarevacantinthe
very active catalysts. Using these parameters, the team developed the catalyst strontium cobalt oxide that can
performthewaterelectrolysisreactionapproximatelytwentytimesbetterthantheleadingindustrialcatalyst,IrO2,ata
significantlylowercost.

Followuson

The team found that the enhanced performance of the catalyst was facilitated by participation of the oxygen atoms
insideofthesurfaceofthecrystal.Previously,theassumptionhadbeenthatthereactionproceededthroughspecies
exclusivelyattheinterfaceofthecatalystandwater.

http://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/article/research-collaboration-discovers-new-catalyst-for-water-20160330

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10/25/2016

Panorama - Research collaboration discovers new catalyst for water electrolysis - Renewable Energy Magazine, at the heart of clean energy journalism

Although more work needs to be done to further increase the performance of water electrolysis catalysts, the work
provides a deeper mechanistic understanding of the chemistry of active catalysts. The work also clarifies materials
designstrategiestoacceleratethediscoveryofadditionalEarthabundantnonpreciousmetaloxidecatalysts.

Renewable Energy M...

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TheresultsoftheresearchwererecentlypublishedinthejournalNatureCommunications.
Foradditionalinformation:

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UniversityofTexasatAustin
SkoltechInstituteofScienceandTechnology
MassachussettsInstituteofTechnology(MIT)
TAGS:Hydro,Hydrogen,Fuel,Fuelcell,Renewableenergy,Storage,Climatechange,Efficiency

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