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Phase segregation reversibility in mixed-metal hydroxide water oxidation catalysts

Nature Catalysis volume 3, pages 743–753 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Achieving stable, low-cost electrocatalysts represents a daunting challenge towards practical water oxidation reactions. Here, we report that a degraded electrocatalyst can be revivified under catalytic operating conditions by manipulating reversible phase segregation. Under the oxygen evolution reaction conditions, Fe segregation develops in the Ni–Fe hydroxide host lattice, with the formation of FeOOH, resulting in an interface between the FeOOH and the host lattice. A dynamic metal dissolution–redeposition process accelerates the Fe segregation and formation of the FeOOH secondary phase, resulting in catalyst deactivation. Operando synchrotron spectroscopic and microscopic analyses suggest that the phase segregation is reversible between the water oxidation potential and the catalyst reduction potential. Therefore, we have developed an intermittent reduction methodology to revivify the catalytic activity under the operating conditions, enhancing catalyst durability. The present study highlights that tailoring phase segregation at the catalyst/electrolyte interface constitutes an important strategy for revivifying and stabilizing catalytic activity.

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Fig. 1: Stability of the water oxidation catalyst.
Fig. 2: Phase segregation and structural evolution of the water oxidation catalyst.
Fig. 3: Ni and Fe elemental distribution evolution during the OER.
Fig. 4: Ni and Fe local structural changes during the OER.
Fig. 5: The Fe segregation mechanism.
Fig. 6: Revivification of the water oxidation catalysts.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Department of Chemistry Startup Funds and the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science at Virginia Tech. The work at Tianjin university was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 51871160, 51671141 and 51471115). This research used the resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Use of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, was supported by the US DOE, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under contract no. DE-AC02-76SF00515. The authors thank S. Li and Y. Liu of SLAC for assisting the development of the synchrotron operando cells, and W. Liu for assisting the XFM measurements at APS 34-ID-E.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Zhengrui Xu, Cong Xi.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Chunguang Kuai, Zhengrui Xu, Anyang Hu, Zhijie Yang & Feng Lin

  2. Institute of New-Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China

    Chunguang Kuai, Cong Xi, Yan Zhang, Cunku Dong & Xi-Wen Du

  3. Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA

    Yan Zhang & Dimosthenis Sokaras

  4. Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA

    Cheng-Jun Sun & Luxi Li

  5. School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Shi-Zhang Qiao

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Contributions

F.L. and X.W.D. conceived the project. F.L. led the project. C.G.K., F.L. and X.W.D. designed the experiments. C.G.K. synthesized the materials and performed characterization and electrochemical measurements. C.G.K., Z.X., Z.Y. and Y.Z. performed the synchrotron XAS experiments with the assistance of C.-J.S. and D.S. C.G.K., Z.X. and L.L. performed the synchrotron XFM experiments. A.H. assisted with the electrochemical and ICP-MS measurements. C.X. conducted the DFT calculations under the supervision of C.K.D. S.Q. participated in the scientific discussion. C.G.K., F.L. and X.W.D. prepared the figures and wrote the manuscript with the assistance of all the other co-authors. All of the co-authors participated in the scientific discussion.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Luxi Li, Xi-Wen Du or Feng Lin.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–28, Tables 1–3 and Notes 1 and 2

Supplementary Data 1

Atomic coordinates of the calculated Ni0.75Fe0.25(OH)2 structure where Fe ions are segregated at the edge.

Supplementary Data 2

Atomic coordinates of the calculated Ni0.75Fe0.25(OH)2 structure where Fe ions are uniformly distributed.

Supplementary Data 3

Atomic coordinates of the calculated K1/3(Ni3/4Fe1/4)O2 structure where Fe ions are segregated at the edge.

Supplementary Data 4

Atomic coordinates of the calculated K1/3(Ni3/4Fe1/4)O2 structure where Fe ions are segregated in bulk.

Supplementary Data 5

Atomic coordinates of the calculated K1/3(Ni3/4Fe1/4)O2 structure where Fe ions are uniformly distributed.

Supplementary Data 6

Atomic coordinates of the calculated K1/3(Ni5/6Fe1/6)O2 structure where Fe ions are segregated at the edge.

Supplementary Data 7

Atomic coordinates of the calculated K1/3(Ni5/6Fe1/6)O2 structure where Fe ions are segregated in bulk.

Supplementary Data 8

Atomic coordinates of the calculated K1/3(Ni5/6Fe1/6)O2 structure where Fe ions are uniformly distributed.

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Kuai, C., Xu, Z., Xi, C. et al. Phase segregation reversibility in mixed-metal hydroxide water oxidation catalysts. Nat Catal 3, 743–753 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-020-0496-z

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