Constructing Nanoporous Ir/Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> Interfaces on Metallic Glass for Durable Acidic Water Oxidation
Yijing Qiao, Min Luo, Lebin Cai, Cheng‐Wei Kao, Jiao Lan, Linghu Meng, Ying‐Rui Lu, Ming Peng, Chao Ma, Yongwen Tan
Abstract
Abstract Although proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWE) are considered as a promising technique for green hydrogen production, it remains crucial to develop intrinsically effective oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts with high activity and durability. Here, a flexible self‐supporting electrode with nanoporous Ir/Ta2O5 electroactive surface is reported for acidic OER via dealloying IrTaCoB metallic glass ribbons. The catalyst exhibits excellent electrocatalytic OER performance with an overpotential of 218 mV for a current density of 10 mA cm −2 and a small Tafel slope of 46.1 mV dec −1 in acidic media, superior to most electrocatalysts. More impressively, the assembled PEMWE with nanoporous Ir/Ta 2 O 5 as an anode shows exceptional performance of electrocatalytic hydrogen production and can operate steadily for 260 h at 100 mA cm −2 . In situ spectroscopy characterizations and density functional theory calculations reveal that the modest adsorption of OOH* intermediates to active Ir sites lower the OER energy barrier, while the electron donation behavior of Ta 2 O 5 to stabilize the high‐valence states of Ir during the OER process extended catalyst's durability.