Abstract
The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is considered a major bottleneck in the overall water electrolysis process. In this work, highly active manganese oxide nano-catalysts were synthesized via hot injection. Facile surface treatment generated Mn(III) species on monodisperse 10 nm MnO nanocrystals (NCs). Size dependency of MnO NCs on OER activity was also investigated. Surprisingly, the partially oxidized MnO NCs only required 530 mV @ 5 mA cm−2 under near neutral conditions.
Highlights
Development of cost-effective and robust catalysts has been a demanding challenge to solving the current energy crisis[1,2,3,4,5,6]
We investigated the nanoscale effects on water oxidation catalysis and revealed a superior activity for monodisperse MnO NCs
Monodisperse MnO NCs were prepared via hot injection with a slight modification from previously reported literature[31]
Summary
Development of cost-effective and robust catalysts has been a demanding challenge to solving the current energy crisis[1,2,3,4,5,6]. The other active manganese oxide catalysts reported by Jaramillo group, possess Mn(III) and Mn(IV) species as well[23]. Despite these systematic approaches, the main challenge associated with manganese oxide catalysis is the degraded activity under neutral conditions[24,25]. Unless the structural flexibility is fully guaranteed, large inner stress builds up; the J-T process is inhibited but charge disproportionation (CD) occurs[28,29] This dramatic change in the manganese oxide compounds originates from the instability of the Mn(III) species during the OER process[24,30]. Partially oxidized MnO NCs exhibited the superior OER performance under near neutral condition, compared to previously reported Mn based catalysts
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