Operando investigation of Au-MnOx thin films with improved activity for the oxygen evolution reaction

Rasmus Frydendal, Linsey C. Seitz, Dimosthenis Sokaras, Tsu Chien Weng, Dennis Nordlund, Ib Chorkendorff, Ifan E.L. Stephens*, Thomas F. Jaramillo

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

The electrochemical splitting of water holds great potential as a method for producing clean fuels by storing electricity from intermittent energy sources. The efficiency of such a process would be greatly facilitated by incorporating more active catalysts based on abundant materials for the oxygen evolution reaction. Manganese oxides are promising as catalysts for this reaction. Recent reports show that their activity can be drastically enhanced when modified with gold. Herein, we investigate highly active mixed Au-MnOx thin films for the oxygen evolution reaction, which exhibit more than five times improvement over pure MnOx. These films are characterized with operando X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, which reveal that Mn assumes a higher oxidation state under reaction conditions when Au is present. The magnitude of the enhancement is correlated to the size of the Au domains, where larger domains are the more beneficial.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)22-28
Number of pages7
JournalElectrochimica Acta
Volume230
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 10 2017

Keywords

  • Electrocatalysis
  • Operando study
  • Water oxidation
  • X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Chemical Engineering(all)
  • Electrochemistry

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