Cited by 4,145Electrocatalysts for Energy ConversionAdvanced Photocatalysis TechniquesCO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts

Benchmarking Hydrogen Evolving Reaction and Oxygen Evolving Reaction Electrocatalysts for Solar Water Splitting Devices

McCrory, Charles C. L., Jung, Suho, Ferrer, Ivonne M., Chatman, Shawn M., Peters, Jonas C., Jaramillo, Thomas F.·2015·Journal of the American Chemical Society

Abstract

Objective comparisons of electrocatalyst activity and stability using standard methods under identical conditions are necessary to evaluate the viability of existing electrocatalysts for integration into solar-fuel devices as well as to help inform the development of new catalytic systems. Herein, we use a standard protocol as a primary screen for evaluating the activity, short-term (2 h) stability, and electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of 18 electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 26 electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) under conditions relevant to an integrated solar water-splitting device in aqueous acidic or alkaline solution. Our primary figure of merit is the overpotential necessary to achieve a magnitude current density of 10 mA cm(-2) per geometric area, the approximate current density expected for a 10% efficient solar-to-fuels conversion device under 1 sun illumination. The specific activity per ECSA of each material is also reported. Among HER catalysts, several could operate at 10 mA cm(-2) with overpotentials <0.1 V in acidic and/or alkaline solutions. Among OER catalysts in acidic solution, no non-noble metal based materials showed promising activity and stability, whereas in alkaline solution many OER catalysts performed with similar activity achieving 10 mA cm(-2) current densities at overpotentials of ~0.33-0.5 V. Most OER catalysts showed comparable or better specific activity per ECSA when compared to Ir and Ru catalysts in alkaline solutions, while most HER catalysts showed much lower specific activity than Pt in both acidic and alkaline solutions. For select catalysts, additional secondary screening measurements were conducted including Faradaic efficiency and extended stability measurements.

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  • A typical problem with conventional non-precious metal electrocatalytic hydrogen precipitation catalysts is that corrosion leads to a decrease in catalytic activity.

    “A typical problem with the preparation of electrocatalytic hydrogen precipitation catalysts using conventional non-precious metals is that corrosion leads to a decrease in catalytic activity.”

    From Heterogeneous interface construction of P-doped MoS2 based on the N-doped graphene oxide aerogels for efficient hydrogen evolution (2024) · cites this paper as [44]

    Section S7 (p. S19) reports rapid loss of catalytic activity in some tests of the non-precious-metal Co-(b) and NiCr films. It does not identify corrosion as the cause or establish that this is a typical problem for such catalysts generally. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The longevity and steadiness of the catalyst are significant factors in determining its practical applicability.

    “Consequently, the longevity and steadiness of the catalyst are also significant factors in determining its practical applicability [43,44].”
  • There still lacks a capital investment analysis of a general CO2 electrolysis system, from which the return on capital investment and time-valued net present value for the production of the most commonly reported products can be determined.

    “Although these various investigations provide useful insights to the economic potential of CO2 reduction, there still lacks a capital investment analysis of a general CO2 electrolysis system, from which the return on capital investment and time-valued net present value for the production of the most commonly reported products can be determined.”

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Authors
McCrory, C. C. L., Jung, S., Ferrer, I. M., Chatman, S. M., Peters, J. C., & Jaramillo, T. F.
Affiliations
  • California Institute of Technology (US)
  • Stanford University (US)
Corresponding author
  • McCrory, Charles C. L.
  • Peters, Jonas C.
  • Jaramillo, Thomas F.
Venue
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Published
2015-03-25
Volume
137
Issue
13
Pages
4347-4357
ISSN
  • 0002-7863 (ISSN-L)
  • 1520-5126
OpenAlex
W2040634925
Cited by
4,145
References
109
Citations by year
2026: 362 · 2025: 342 · 2024: 363 · 2023: 392 · 2022: 387 · 2021: 420 · 2020: 435 · 2019: 452 · 2018: 400 · 2017: 305 · 2016: 219 · 2015: 64
FWCI
97.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
Keywords
hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, electrocatalysts, solar water splitting, benchmarking, electrochemically active surface area, catalyst stability, overpotential, acidic and alkaline electrolytes, non-noble metal catalysts, specific activity, Faradaic efficiency, solar fuels

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