Optimizing Perovskites for the Water-Splitting Reaction

The electron occupation of orbitals in transition metal oxides guided the identification of an efficient oxygen evolution catalyst based on Earth-abundant elements. Electrochemical splitting of water into molecular oxygen (O 2 ), protons, and electrons could provide a way to store the electricity ge...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2011-12, Vol.334 (6061), p.1355-1356
Main Authors: Vojvodic, Aleksandra, Nørskov, Jens K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adsorption
Catalysts
Conduction bands
Electrons
Optimization techniques
Oxides
Oxygen
Perovskite
Perovskites
PERSPECTIVES
Protons
Strong nuclear force
Transition metals
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Summary:The electron occupation of orbitals in transition metal oxides guided the identification of an efficient oxygen evolution catalyst based on Earth-abundant elements. Electrochemical splitting of water into molecular oxygen (O 2 ), protons, and electrons could provide a way to store the electricity generated from sustainable but intermittent energy sources, such as wind and solar power, as fuels ( 1 ). Hydrogen would be the simplest fuel to make, but the protons and electrons could be used to produce hydrocarbons and alcohols from CO 2 or ammonia from N 2 . A major challenge is that efficient catalysts for water electrolysis are expensive and contain rare noble metals, so cost-effective approaches will require the discovery of efficient electrocatalysts that contain only Earth-abundant elements. On page 1383 of this issue, Suntivich et al. ( 2 ) describe a method for rational design of metal oxide catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction. They discovered perovskite-structure catalysts based on non-noble metals that work with a higher efficiency than one of the state-of-the-art catalysts, iridium oxide.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1215081