Superaerophobic Electrode with Metal@Metal-Oxide Powder Catalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

A stable and highly active oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrode is the key for fast and robust O-2 production, which is one of the essential points for various kinds of energy conversion systems, such as water splitting, lithium-O-2 battery and artificial photosynthesis. Here, superaerophobic electrodes with metal@metal-oxide powder catalysts are shown, which demonstrate high and stable OER activity. The active-site-density of metal@metal-oxide catalysts is increased over one order of magnitude than those of pure metal oxides due to the large enhancement of electrical conductivity, revealing the substantial enhancement of electrochemical OER kinetics. Furthermore, the superaerophobic property of electrodes is favorable for fast O-2 desorption, which improves electrochemical active surface area (EASA) during OER. The superaerophobic electrode with metal@metal-oxide powder catalysts provides the new insight for increase of active-site-density and EASA simultaneously, which are the key factors to determine the activity of OER electrode.