Development of Ba₃TiO₇-Supported IrOx Electrocatalysts for Enhanced Mass Activity in the Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Overcoming the challenge of developing highly durable and conductive support materials for Ir-based electrocatalysts in the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is difficult due to the highly corrosive conductions experienced during anodic process. In this research, we develop IrO x /Ba 3 TiO 7 electrocatalysts, which employ Ba 3 TiO 7 as a new support material, to minimize loading amount of iridium. We also try to fabricated Ba 3 TiO (7-x) support material with abundant oxygen vacancies for enhanced conductivity of the support material. As a results, the IrO x /Ba 3 TiO 7 electrocatalysts demonstrated remarkable OER performances and enhanced mass activity compared to unsupported IrO x electrocatalysts. Through a combination of physical and chemical analyses, It was elucidated that the excellent thermodynamic stability and electrical conductivity of Ba 3 TiO 7 effectively enhanced the mass activity of IrO x /Ba 3 TiO 7 electrocatalysts. These finding provide further insight into new category of anode support materials for proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer.