Acidic Water Oxidation on Quantum Dots of IrOx/Graphdiyne

Efficient acidic water oxidation utilization in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is still an important bottleneck for hydrogen production. From fundamental principles, a controllable graphdiyne (GDY) induced growth strategy is established; highly uniform size distribution of oxidized iridium quantum dots is prepared on the surface of graphdiyne (IrO(x)QD/GDY). The result shows that, the catalyst exhibits excellent activity and durability for acidic OER, with a current density of 10 mA cm(-2) at a small overpotential of 236 mV versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a Tafel slope of 70 mV dec(-1). The performance is greatly superior to previously reported electrocatalysts. Remarkably, the acidic electrolyzer using IrO(x)QD/GDY as both cathode and anode electrodes can reach 10 mA cm(-2) only at a much low cell voltage of 1.49 V (vs RHE). The results show the superior advantages of graphdiyne in effectively increasing numbers of the catalytically active sites for improving the charge transfer behavior and protecting the metal catalysts from corrosion.

Automated summary

A controllable graphdiyne induced growth strategy prepared oxidized iridium quantum dots with highly uniform size distribution, showing superior activity and durability for acidic OER compared to previous electrocatalysts. The graphdiyne effectively increased catalytically active sites and protected metal catalysts from corrosion, demonstrating advantages in charge transfer behavior.