UBC Faculty Research and Publications

Corrosion of monometallic iron- and nickel-based electrocatalysts for the alkaline oxygen evolution reaction : A review Liang, Hongxing; Xu, Min; Asselin, Edouard

Abstract

Many studies have investigated the potential to reduce the costs of producing renewable hydrogen via water electrolysis by using nonnoble Fe- and Ni-based catalysts. However, Fe- and Ni-based catalysts corrode in alkaline solutions, which makes it unclear whether the catalytic surface components are the pristine catalysts or their transformation products. Further, corrosion limits the catalyst service life. An understanding of this corrosion process is essential to accurately assess the active catalysts during the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and to design novel catalysts. This paper reviews the corrosion of five types of monometallic Fe- and Ni-based OER catalysts: pure metals, oxides, (oxy)hydroxides, phosphides, and sulfides. A protocol for a rigorous corrosion characterization method is proposed to avoid misleading results during the design of novel catalysts. In light of the corrosion evolution of these catalysts, several key points are also suggested for consideration during the design of novel monometallic Fe- and Ni-based catalysts with high stability and electroconductivity.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International