Premium
Nickel‐Doping Effect on Mn 3 O 4 Nanoparticles for Electrochemical Water Oxidation under Neutral Condition
Author(s) -
Hong Jung Sug,
Seo Hongmin,
Lee Yoon Ho,
Cho Kang Hee,
Ko Changwan,
Park Sunghak,
Nam Ki Tae
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
small methods
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.66
H-Index - 46
ISSN - 2366-9608
DOI - 10.1002/smtd.201900733
Subject(s) - overpotential , water splitting , oxygen evolution , materials science , electrochemistry , doping , nanoparticle , chemical engineering , nickel , spinel , nanomaterial based catalyst , oxidizing agent , catalysis , hydrogen production , transition metal , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , electrode , metallurgy , optoelectronics , organic chemistry , biochemistry , photocatalysis , engineering
As the demand for energy has dramatically increased in the past decade, electrochemical water splitting has been regarded as an attractive approach to produce renewable hydrogen energy. However, large overpotentials of oxygen‐evolving reaction (OER) is a key bottleneck for practical application. Thus, water‐oxidizing electrocatalysts with low cost and high efficiency should be developed. Here, 5 nm‐sized Mn 3 O 4 nanoparticles (NPs) are synthesized by a hydrothermal method, which is appropriate for large‐scale production. To further improve their performance, various 3d transition metal elements are successfully doped in Mn 3 O 4 NPs. Ni‐doped Mn 3 O 4 NPs exhibit the highest efficiency among the Mn 3 O 4 NPs doped with various elements. Based on structural analysis, the Ni‐doping process leads to the lattice distortion of their tetragonal spinel structure and it strongly correlates with the enhancement of OER activity. The overpotential at the current density of 10 mA cm –2 is 524 and 458 mV for pristine and 5 at% doped Mn 3 O 4 NPs under neutral condition. The heteroatom‐doping process in sub‐10 nm‐sized nanocatalysts is expected to be a promising methodology to induce distorted structure related to active species. Thus, it can be effective to improve catalytic performance of various heterogeneous nano‐catalysts.