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Nickel Confined in the Interlayer Region of Birnessite: an Active Electrocatalyst for Water Oxidation
Author(s) -
Thenuwara Akila C.,
Cerkez Elizabeth B.,
Shumlas Samantha L.,
Attanayake Nuwan H.,
McKendry Ian G.,
Frazer Laszlo,
Borguet Eric,
Kang Qing,
Remsing Richard C.,
Klein Michael L.,
Zdilla Michael J.,
Strongin Daniel R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201601935
Subject(s) - birnessite , overpotential , nickel , electrocatalyst , oxygen evolution , catalysis , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , redox , water splitting , intercalation (chemistry) , chemical engineering , electrochemistry , electrode , photocatalysis , organic chemistry , manganese oxide , engineering
We report a synthetic method to enhance the electrocatalytic activity of birnessite for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) by intercalating Ni 2+ ions into the interlayer region. Electrocatalytic studies showed that nickel (7.7 atomic %)‐intercalated birnessite exhibits an overpotential ( η ) of 400 mV for OER at an anodic current of 10 mA cm −2 . This η is significantly lower than the η values for birnessite ( η ≈700 mV) and the active OER catalyst β‐Ni(OH) 2 ( η ≈550 mV). Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that a competition among the interactions between the nickel cation, water, and birnessite promote redox chemistry in the spatially confined interlayer region.