Operando XAS Study of the Surface Oxidation State on a Monolayer IrOx on RuOx and Ru Oxide Based Nanoparticles for Oxygen Evolution in Acidic Media

. Simulated XAS spectra show that the average Ir oxidation state change is strongly affected by the coverage of atomic O. The observed shifts in oxidation state suggest that the surface has a high coverage of O at potentials just below the potential where oxygen evolution is exergonic in free energy. This observation is consistent with the notion that the metal-oxygen bond is stronger than ideal.