Mesoporous nickel-iron-manganese-alloy based metal/metal oxide composite thick film catalysts
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsSarah Tolbert, Eric Detsi, Benjamin Lesel
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Abstract
Selective alloy corrosion is used to synthesize a robust and ultrafine mesoporous NiFeMn-based metal/metal oxide oxygen evolving catalyst with ligament and pore sizes in the range of 10 nm and a BET surface area of 43 m2/g. As an oxygen evolving catalyst, the mesoporous catalyst exhibits high stability (>264 hours) at a high current density (500 mA/cm2) with a low overpotential (360 mV) using a moderate electrolyte concentration (1 M KOH). The catalyst is made from non-precious metals and its fabrication is straight forward and directly applicable to large-scale synthesis.
Claims16
A nanostructured catalytic electrode, comprising:
- (a) a nanoporous alloy material represented by the formula (NiaFeb)Et at %;
- (b) wherein a is in the range of 30<a<100;
- (c) wherein b is in the range of 0<b<60;
- (d) wherein t is in the range of 0<t<40;
- (e) wherein E is an element selected from the group of elements consisting of Mg, Al, Ti, Mn, Zn, and Ta;
- and
- (f) a layer of an NiFe oxide covering one or more surfaces of the nanoporous alloy material.
An electrochemical cell comprising:
- (a) a vessel containing an aqueous alkali electrolyte and an ion permeable membrane separating the electrolyte into a first volume and a second volume;
- (b) a cathode coupled to a source of current disposed in the first volume of electrolyte;
- and
- (c) a nanostructured catalytic anode, wherein said anode comprises:
- (i) an alloy material represented by the formula (NiaFeb)Et at %;
- (ii) wherein a is in the range of 30<a<100;
- (iii) wherein b is in the range of 0<b<60;
- (iv) wherein t is in the range of 0<t<40;
- and
- (v) wherein E is an element selected from the group of elements consisting of Mg, Al, Ti, Mn, Zn, and Ta;
- and
- (vi) a layer of oxide covering one or more surfaces of the alloy material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.