(66c) A Gold-Supported NiOx-Based Catalyst As a High-Performance Water Oxidation Electrocatalyst

The development of high-performance yet earth-abundant analogues to iridium- and ruthenium-based oxide catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is paramount for cost-effective conversion of renewable electricity. Herein, we report a combined experimental and theoretical study on an engineered doped NiO_x catalyst supported on gold that exhibits one of the highest OER activities reported to date. We also show that the scalability of this NiO_x-based catalyst is possible by pairing it with a nickel-molybdenum hydrogen evolution catalyst in a water electrolysis device, providing excellent results over hours of continuous operation. Detailed insight into the factors responsible for the remarkable activity enhancement of this new OER catalyst will be provided based on experimental observations and state-of-the-art theoretical calculations.

The knowledge derived from this work on the catalyst-substrate and metal-dopant interactions might potentially enable future critical catalysis breakthroughs for energy conversion technologies based on all-earth abundant chemistry.