Recent Progress in the Development of Screening Methods to Identify Electrode Materials for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

• Published in: Advanced functional materials 2020-10, Vol.30 (42), p.n/a
• Main Author: Exner, Kai S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorbates; Electrode materials; Electrodes; Identification methods; kinetic scaling relations; linear free‐energy relationships; Materials science; Molecular orbitals; overpotential‐dependent volcano plot; oxygen evolution reaction; Oxygen evolution reactions; Screening; Stability analysis; unifying approach; volcano plot
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202005060

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) limits the performance of proton‐exchange membrane electrolyzers since substantial overpotentials of several hundred millivolts are required for the formation of gaseous oxygen at the anode to reach satisfying current densities. Theoreticians trace this to the occurrence of a linear scaling relationship between the OH and OOH adsorbates within the electrocatalytic OER cycle, which thermodynamically restrains this four‐electron process. While commonly the breaking of this particular scaling relation is pursued as a promising strategy to enhance catalytic turnover, the present progress report summarizes recent trends in the screening of electrode materials for the OER aside this notion. This contains an extension of thermodynamic‐based screening methods by including the kinetics, applied overpotential, and the electrochemical‐step symmetry index into the analysis, enabling material screening within a unifying methodology, or material screening by molecular orbital principles and band theories. The combination of activity‐based screening methods with a proper assessment of catalyst stability may aid the further search of electrode materials for the OER in the future. Material screening is a powerful tool to assess the activity of electrocatalysts in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This progress report summarizes material‐screening methodologies for the OER beyond the assessment of binding energies, such as that encountered with volcano analyses. The recent advancements in this field may contribute to the development of improved OER materials for electrolyzers in the future.