Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation at Surface-Oxidized Nanocarbon Materials

摘要

Electrolytic water splitting is predicted to play an important role for future renewable energy technologies. Production of H2 fuel via water splitting is a promising pathway to store energy harvested from intermittent sources such as solar and wind energy. Nevertheless the sluggish cathodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) impairs the efficiency of the water splitting reaction. Although current benchmark catalysts based on noble-metals such as Ir and Ru have been demonstrated to be highly active for OER, their costs are not ideal for commercial application. In comparison to noble metal based catalysts, the use of low-cost material such as carbon materials (CMs) will be a major advantage. Their excellent electrochemical properties render them attractive for application as substrate materials. Several recent studies also have shown promising electrocatalytic activity of nitrogen doped-nanocarbons such as CNTs and graphene for the oxygen reduction reaction. However, very few carbon catalysts have been developed for electrochemical oxidation reactions. The research for applications of carbon nanomaterial as an electrocatalyst itself remains in infancy.