Effect of Surface‐Adsorbed and Intercalated (Oxy)anions on the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2022-09, Vol.61 (38), p.e202207279-n/a
• Main Authors: Hausmann, J. Niklas, Menezes, Prashanth W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anions; Catalysis; Catalysts; Electrode Materials; Interlayers; Intermediates; Oxoanions/Oxyanions; Oxygen; Oxygen Evolution Reaction; Oxygen evolution reactions; Reaction intermediates; Water Splitting
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202207279

As the kinetically demanding oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for the decarbonization of our society, a wide range of (pre)catalysts with various non‐active‐site elements (e.g., Mo, S, Se, N, P, C, Si…) have been investigated. Thermodynamics dictate that these elements oxidize during industrial operation. The formed oxyanions are water soluble and thus predominantly leach in a reconstruction process. Nevertheless, recently, it was unveiled that these thermodynamically stable (oxy)anions can adsorb on the surface or intercalate in the interlayer space of the active catalyst. There, they tune the electronic properties of the active sites and can interact with the reaction intermediates, changing the OER kinetics and potentially breaking the persisting OER *OH/*OOH scaling relations. Thus, the addition of (oxy)anions to the electrolyte opens a new design dimension for OER catalysis and the herein discussed observations deepen the understanding of the role of anions in the OER. (Oxy)anions can surface‐adsorb on and intercalate into oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts. There, they can affect the catalyst's electronic properties and interlayer spacing, stabilizing OER intermediates and potentially breaking the *OH/*OOH scaling relations, as described in this Minireview. Thus, adding (oxy)anions to the electrolyte opens a new OER design dimension.