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Electrocatalytic water splitting is one of the most promising next generation technologies for environmentally friendly and inexpensive energy conversion and storage. However, one of its biggest obstacles is the sluggishness of the oxidation reaction, which is key to the whole process. State-of-the-art technology relies on metal oxide electrocatalysts, but both cost and performance still need to be improved. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, Chinese scientists have now introduced oxidized, that is, rusty, stainless-steel plates as excellent electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution. That technology could represent a surprisingly simple approach toward solving a long-standing problem.
The water splitting reaction represents the conversion of water into oxygen and hydrogen. Although this principle used in plants is the most important energy converting reaction on Earth, it is difficult to implement as industrial processes. One of the key challenges is the development of suitable catalysts to accelerate the sluggish oxidation reaction of water for the generation of oxygen. The requirements for possible electrocatalysts are manifold, including durability and low cost. The best electrocatalysts considered today are the oxides of the heavy metals ruthenium and iridium, but they are expensive and scarce, whereas the cheaper ones based on earth-abundant transition metals need other improvements. In an unusual approach, Xinbo Zhang at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and his colleagues have turned a simple stainless steel plate electrode into a highly efficient electrocatalyst just by artificially corroding its surface.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Friday July 22 2016, @05:23AM
I wonder which alloy they used.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by Post-Nihilist on Friday July 22 2016, @07:57PM
from the artitcle supplementary material:
Supporting Information
Chemicals: NH3·H2O (25-28%, Aladdin Reagent), KOH (98%, Aladdin Reagent),
CH3CH2OH (≥99.7%, Beijing Chemical Works), stainless steel plate (316: 0.01 mm,
Shanghai, hong zhu metal materials co., LTD; 201, 304, 310, 630, 904: 0.1 mm), Fe and Ni foil (0.05 mm, 99.99%).
Deionized water with the specific resistance of 18.2MΩ·cm was obtained by reversed osmosis followed by ion-exchange and filtration.
Corrosive stainless steel plate (SPN): Firstly, stainless steel plate (SP, 316, 3*4 cm
2
)
was washing with deionized water and ethanol by sonication for several times.
Afterward, it was immersed into 25 mL of alkaline solution containing 5 mL of
NH3·H2O. Then, it was sealed in autoclave and heated at 200 oC for 5 h. After
washing with water, the plate can be directly used as the working electrode.
Electrochemically switched SP (SP50): Electrochemically oxidation-reduction cycle
(EORC) was performed with CV scan from -1.4 to 0.5 V vs. SCE (10, 20, 50 and 100
cycles) in 1 M KOH solution with a scan rate of 50 mV s-1
, wherein SP, platinum
mesh and saturated calomel electrode (SCE) were used as working electrode, counter
electrode and reference electrode, respectively. Different cycles (10, 20, 50 and 100
cycles) are performed to choose the optimized one.
Electrochemically switched SPN (SPN50): EORC was performed with CV scan
from -1.4 to 0.5 V vs. SCE (50 cycles) in 1 M KOH solution with a scan rate of 50
S2mV s-1, wherein SPN, platinum mesh and SCE were used as working electrode,
counter electrode and reference electrode, respectively. Electrochemically switched
other rusty SP, Fe, Ni and Cr foil are synthesized with the same procedures of SPN50,
designated as 201N50, 310N50, 630N50, 904N50, FeN50, NiN50 and CrN50,
respectively.
Electrochemically switched rusty stainless steel plate (RL50): RL50 is gained by
EORC of the naturally rusty stainless steel plate (RL) in alkaline electrolyte. And the
electrochemically switched SS scoop (RS50), lid (RL50) and battery case with holes
(RBC50) are all synthesized by the same procedures of RL50.
Be like us, be different, be a nihilist!!!