Stabilization of ultrathin (hydroxy)oxide films on transition metal substrates for electrochemical energy conversion

Zhenhua Zeng, Kee-Chul Chang, Joseph Kubal, Nenad M. Markovic and Jeffrey Greeley ()
Additional contact information
Zhenhua Zeng: Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University
Kee-Chul Chang: Argonne National Laboratory
Joseph Kubal: Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University
Nenad M. Markovic: Argonne National Laboratory
Jeffrey Greeley: Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University

Nature Energy, 2017, vol. 2, issue 6, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Design of cost-effective electrocatalysts with enhanced stability and activity is of paramount importance for the next generation of energy conversion systems, including fuel cells and electrolysers. However, electrocatalytic materials generally improve one of these properties at the expense of the other. Here, using density functional theory calculations and electrochemical surface science measurements, we explore atomic-level features of ultrathin (hydroxy)oxide films on transition metal substrates and demonstrate that these films exhibit both excellent stability and activity for electrocatalytic applications. The films adopt structures with stabilities that significantly exceed bulk Pourbaix limits, including stoichiometries not found in bulk and properties that are tunable by controlling voltage, film composition, and substrate identity. Using nickel (hydroxy)oxide/Pt(111) as an example, we further show how the films enhance activity for hydrogen evolution through a bifunctional effect. The results suggest design principles for this class of electrocatalysts with simultaneously enhanced stability and activity for energy conversion.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nenergy201770 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natene:v:2:y:2017:i:6:d:10.1038_nenergy.2017.70

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/nenergy/

DOI: 10.1038/nenergy.2017.70

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Energy is currently edited by Fouad Khan

More articles in Nature Energy from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().