Bing publishes a paper experimentally identifying the active site motifs on restructured iridium oxide catalysts for acidic water oxidation

Bing’s paper reports deep insights for the ubiquitous surface restructuring of iridium oxide catalysts upon use for electrochemical water oxidation towards production of green hydrogen. We use advanced x-ray and electron scattering as well as cutting-edge S/TEM techniques and establish a minimal-dose workflow to enable damage-free imaging and analysis of structural motifs present at the surface of these amorphized iridium oxide catalysts. Stability testing and in situ spectroscopy provide insights to the dynamic behavior of these surface structures, while density functional theory characterizes the predicted activity of each identified structural motif. Collectively, this work enables design and synthesis of paracrystalline iridium oxide catalysts with superior activity and durability requiring minimized iridium utilization for optimal application in sustainable electrocatalytic technologies and provides a roadmap for accurately characterizing these and other complex, dynamic material structures. Congratulations Bing and co-authors!!