The importance of nickel oxyhydroxide deprotonation on its activity towards electrochemical water oxidation.

ABSTRACT: Nickel oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) is extensively used for energy storage and it is a very promising catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, the processes occurring on the NiOOH surface during charge accumulation and OER are not well understood. This work presents an in situ Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) study of the pH dependent interfacial changes of the NiOOH catalyst under the working conditions used for OER. We demonstrate the important effect of the electrolyte pH on the degree of surface deprotonation of NiOOH, which crucially affects its OER activity. Our results show that the deprotonation of NiOOH produces negatively charged (or proton-deficient) surface species, which are responsible for the enhanced OER activity of NiOOH in highly alkaline pH. Mo

SUBMITTER: Diaz-Morales O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5477031 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature