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Significance of Surface Trivalent Manganese in the Electrocatalytic Activity of Water Oxidation in Undoped and Doped MnO 2 Nanowires
Author(s) -
Li Xiaopeng,
Liu Jiong,
Zhao Yonghui,
Zhang Haojie,
Du Fuping,
Lin Chao,
Zhao Tiejun,
Sun Yuhan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201500143
Subject(s) - x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , nanowire , manganese , overpotential , materials science , oxygen evolution , chemical engineering , water splitting , inorganic chemistry , electrochemistry , nanotechnology , chemistry , catalysis , electrode , metallurgy , biochemistry , photocatalysis , engineering
The oxygen‐evolution reaction (OER) is a bottleneck reaction because of a significant overpotential loss in water electrolysis. Currently, MnO 2 ‐based materials are promising candidates for OER electrocatalysts owing to their abundance and excellent properties. Herein, a hydrothermal method was used to prepare MnO 2 nanowires with different diameters. Furthermore, an impregnation method was applied to dope MnO 2 nanowires with Ca and Ag ions. Characterization by TEM, XRD, Raman, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N 2 adsorption, and linear‐scanning voltammogram analysis were performed on these materials. It was found that the OER activity of as‐prepared and doped MnO 2 nanowires is highly dependent on the fraction of surface trivalent manganese in MnO 2 nanowires. Density functional theory calculations of doped MnO 2 revealed the delicate change of the electronic properties of MnO 2 nanowires after doping.