Abstract
The production of hydrogen via water electrolysis is feasible only if effective and stable catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are available. Intermetallic compounds with well‐defined crystal and electronic structures as well as particular chemical bonding features are suggested here to act as precursors for new composite materials with attractive catalytic properties. Al2Pt combines a characteristic inorganic crystal structure (anti‐fluorite type) and a strongly polar chemical bonding with the advantage of elemental platinum in terms of stability against dissolution under OER conditions. We describe here the unforeseen performance of a surface nanocomposite architecture resulting from the self‐organized transformation of the bulk intermetallic precursor Al2Pt in OER.
Highlights
It is essential to begin with an intermetallic compound in order to provide the basic bulk stability of the system
It is further relevant to use a higher concentration of the main group element to modify the electronic structure of platinum
It is important to prevent the crystallization of the gel by intermixing it with a mineral spacer that must not be dense as otherwise the diffusion of reactants and products would be inhibited
Summary
The global demand for transportable renewable electricity positions hydrogen as the universal first product of chemical energy conversion.[1,2,3,4,5,6,7] For the production of hydrogen via electrolysis, the technique of choice needs to be scalable to global dimensions, posing challenges for the development of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst materials capable of operating under the dynamic load provided by renewable electricity.[8,9,10] Proton-exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis has a variety of advantages (oper-ation at high current densities, low gas crossover, compact system design etc.) compared to the well-established alkaline variant.[8]. In contrast to metallic solid solutions, intermetallic compounds with their well-defined crystal structure and chemical bonding situation provide a platform for fundamental catalytic studies.[24,25,26] In this work, we describe a novel material development strategy that combine the conflicting goals of high activity in OER and high stability under harsh oxidative conditions.
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