IrO x · n H 2 O with lattice water–assisted oxygen exchange for high-performance proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers

Abstract

The trade-off between activity and stability of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts in proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) is challenging. Crystalline IrO 2 displays good stability but exhibits poor activity; amorphous IrO x exhibits outstanding activity while sacrificing stability. Here, we combine the advantages of these two materials via a lattice water–incorporated iridium oxide (IrO x · n H 2 O) that has short-range ordered structure of hollandite-like framework. We confirm that IrO x · n H 2 O exhibits boosted activity and ultrahigh stability of >5700 hours (~8 months) with a record-high stability number of 1.9 × 10 7 n oxygen n Ir −1 . We evidence that lattice water is active oxygen species in sustainable and rapid oxygen exchange. The lattice water–assisted modified OER mechanism contributes to improved activity and concurrent stability with no apparent structural degradation, which is different to the conventional adsorbate evolution mechanism and lattice oxygen mechanism. We demonstrate that a high-performance PEMWE with IrO x · n H 2 O as anode electrocatalyst delivers a cell voltage of 1.77 V at 1 A cm −2 for 600 hours (60°C).