Abstract
Perovskite oxides have been gaining attention for its capability to be designed as an ideal electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Among promising candidates, the layered double perovskite—PrBaCo2O6-δ (PBC)—has been identified as the most active perovskite electrocatalyst for OER in alkaline media. For a single transition metal oxide catalyst, the addition of Fe enhances its electrocatalytic performance towards OER. To understand the role of Fe, herein, Fe is incorporated in PBC in different ratios, which yielded PrBaCo2(1-x)Fe2xCo6-δ (x = 0, 0.2 and 0.5). Fe-doped PBCF’s demonstrate enhanced OER activities and stabilities. Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) revealed that Co is more stable in a lower oxidation state upon Fe incorporation by establishing charge stability. Hence, the degradation of Co is inhibited such that the perovskite structure is prolonged under the OER conditions, which allows it to serve as a platform for the oxy(hydroxide) layer formation. Overall, our findings underline synergetic effects of incorporating Fe into Co-based layered double perovskite in achieving a higher activity and stability during oxygen evolution reaction.
Highlights
Today, modern society is evolving to become more energy dependent
A systematic study is conducted to assess the role of Fe in the highly oxygen evolution reaction (OER) active layered double perovskite catalyst, PrBaCo2(1-x) Fe2x Co6-δ, by comparing different compositions of Fe: PBC
(x = 0), PBCF82 (x = 0.2), and PBCF55 (x = 0.5). These layered double perovskite catalysts are prepared via flame spray synthesis, where Fe is incorporated into the B-site as verified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and FT-Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) profiles
Summary
Modern society is evolving to become more energy dependent. As the awareness of environmental impact from current energy systems is elevating, more efforts recently have been devoted towards mainstreaming renewable energy sources. The implementation of renewable energy technologies is challenging, as it requires an efficient energy storage system to mediate the intermittent generation and consumption of energy. The electrochemical splitting of water (i.e., water electrolysis) offers an effective method to produce large amounts of hydrogen (H2 ), which can be stored and used as an energy vector [1]. The members of the perovskite oxide family (ABO3 ) have been gaining vast attention for their promising activities as OER electrocatalysts under alkaline conditions, and thereby relieving the need of expensive precious metals such as iridium [2,3,4,5,6,7]. Perovskite oxides are composed of rare-earth (e.g., lanthanides) or Catalysts 2019, 9, 263; doi:10.3390/catal9030263 www.mdpi.com/journal/catalysts
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