Effect of Lithium and Potassium Cations on the Electrocatalytic Properties of Carbon and Manganese Oxide Electrocatalysts Towards the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Concentrated Alkaline Electrolyte

Water electrolysis: from textbook knowledge to the latest scientific strategies and industrial developments

Replacing fossil fuels with energy sources and carriers that are sustainable, environmentally benign, and affordable is amongst the most pressing challenges for future socio-economic development. To that goal, hydrogen is presumed to be the most promising energy carrier. Electrocatalytic water splitting, if driven by green electricity, would provide hydrogen with minimal CO2 footprint. The viability of water electrolysis still hinges on the availability of durable earth-abundant electrocatalyst materials and the overall process efficiency. This review spans from the fundamentals of electrocatalytically initiated water splitting to the very latest scientific findings from university and institutional research, also covering specifications and special features of the current industrial processes and those processes currently being tested in large-scale applications. Recently developed strategies are described for the optimisation and discovery of active and durable materials for electrodes that ever-increasingly harness first-principles calculations and machine learning. In addition, a technoeconomic analysis of water electrolysis is included that allows an assessment of the extent to which a large-scale implementation of water splitting can help to combat climate change. This review article is intended to cross-pollinate and strengthen efforts from fundamental understanding to technical implementation and to improve the 'junctions' between the field's physical chemists, materials scientists and engineers, as well as stimulate much-needed exchange among these groups on challenges encountered in the different domains.

Effect of Intercalants inside Birnessite-Type Manganese Oxide Nanosheets for Sensor Applications

Hydrazine is a common reducing agent widely used in many industrial and chemical applications; however, its high toxicity causes severe human diseases even at low concentrations. To detect traces of hydrazine released into the environment, a robust sensor with high sensitivity and accuracy is required. An electrochemical sensor is favored for hydrazine detection owing to its ability to detect a small amount of hydrazine without derivatization. Here, we have investigated the electrocatalytic activity of layered birnessite manganese oxides (MnO₂) with different intercalants (Li⁺, Na⁺, and K⁺) as the sensor for hydrazine detection. The birnessite MnO₂ with Li⁺ as an intercalant (Li-Bir) displays a lower oxidation peak potential, indicating a catalytic activity higher than the activities of others. The standard heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant of hydrazine oxidation at the Li-Bir electrode is 1.09- and 1.17-fold faster than those at the Na-Bir and K-Bir electrodes, respectively. In addition, the number of electron transfers increases in the following order: K-Bir (0.11 mol) < Na-Bir (0.17 mol) < Li-Bir (0.55 mol). On the basis of the density functional theory calculation, the Li-Bir sensor can strongly stabilize the hydrazine molecule with a large adsorption energy (-0.92 eV), leading to high electrocatalytic activity. Li-Bir also shows the best hydrazine detection performance with the lowest limit of detection of 129 nM at a signal-to-noise ratio of ∼3 and a linear range of 0.007-10 mM at a finely tuned rotation speed of 2000 rpm. Additionally, the Li-Bir sensor exhibits excellent sensitivity, which can be used to detect traces of hydrazine without any effect of interference at high concentrations and in real aqueous-based samples, demonstrating its practical sensing applications.

Oxygen Electroreduction at High-Index Pt Electrodes in Alkaline Electrolytes: A Decisive Role of the Alkali Metal Cations

Currently, platinum group metals play a central role in the electrocatalysis of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Successful design and synthesis of new highly active materials for this process mainly rely on understanding of the so-called electrified electrode/electrolyte interface. It is widely accepted that the catalytic properties of this interface are only dependent on the electrode surface composition and structure. Therefore, there are limited studies about the effects of the electrolyte components on electrocatalytic activity. By now, however, several key points related to the electrolyte composition have become important for many electrocatalytic reactions, including the ORR. It is essential to understand how certain "spectator ions" (e.g., alkali metal cations) influence the electrocatalytic activity and what is the contribution of the electrode surface structure when, for instance, changing the pH of the electrolyte. In this work, the ORR activity of model stepped Pt [n(111) × (111)] surfaces (where n is equal to either 3 or 4 and denotes the atomic width of the (111) terraces of the Pt electrodes) was explored in various alkali metal (Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, and Cs+) hydroxide solutions. The activity of these electrodes was unexpectedly strongly dependent not only on the surface structure but also on the type of the alkali metal cation in the solutions with the same pH, being the highest in potassium hydroxide solutions (i.e., K+ ≫ Na+ > Cs+ > Rb+ ≈ Li+). A possible reason for the observed ORR activity of Pt [n(111) × (111)] electrodes is discussed as an interplay between structural effects and noncovalent interactions between alkali metal cations and reaction intermediates adsorbed at active catalytic sites.