Grain Boundaries Boost Oxygen Evolution Reaction in NiFe Electrocatalysts

Hoon Kee Park; Hehsang Ahn; Tae Hyung Lee; Jae Yoon Lee; Mi Gyoung Lee; Sol A. Lee; Jin Wook Yang; Sang Jun Kim; Sang Hyun Ahn; Soo Young Kim; Chul Ho Lee; Eun Soo Park; Ho Won Jang

doi:10.1002/smtd.202000755

Grain Boundaries Boost Oxygen Evolution Reaction in NiFe Electrocatalysts

Hoon Kee Park, Hehsang Ahn, Tae Hyung Lee, Jae Yoon Lee, Mi Gyoung Lee, Sol A. Lee, Jin Wook Yang, Sang Jun Kim, Sang Hyun Ahn, Soo Young Kim, Chul Ho Lee, Eun Soo Park, Ho Won Jang

KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In a polycrystalline material, the grain boundaries (GBs) can be effective active sites for catalytic reactions by providing an electrodynamically favorable surface. Previous studies have shown that grain boundary density is related to the catalytic activity of the carbon dioxide reduction reaction, but there is still no convincing evidence that the GBs provide surfaces with enhanced activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Combination of various electrochemical measurements and chemical analysis reveals the GB density at surface of NiFe electrocatalysts directly affects the overall OER. In situ electrochemical microscopy vividly shows that the OER occurs mainly at the GB during overall reaction. It is observed that the reaction determining steps are altered by grain boundary densities and the meaningful work function difference between the inside of grain and GBs exists. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows that extremely high index planes are exposed at the GBs, enhancing the oxygen evolution activity. The specific nature of GBs and its effects on the OER demonstrated in this study can be applied to the various polycrystalline electrocatalysts.

Original language	English
Article number	2000755
Journal	Small Methods
Volume	5
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/smtd.202000755
Publication status	Published - 2021 Feb 15

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
H.K.P. and H.S.A. contributed equally to this work. This research was supported by the Future Material Discovery Program (Grant No. 2018M3D1A1058793), Basic Research Laboratory of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) (MSIT), Korean government (2018R1A4A1022647), the NRF grant funded by the MSIT (2019M3E6A1103818), Basic Science Research Program through the NRF funded by MSIT (2017R1A2B3009135), and Institute of Engineering Research at the Seoul National University. C.‐H.L. acknowledges the support from the Korea University ‐ Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KU‐KIST) school project.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH

Keywords

NiFe alloys
electrocatalysts
grain boundaries
in situ electrochemical microscopy
oxygen evolution reaction

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
General Materials Science

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10.1002/smtd.202000755

Cite this

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title = "Grain Boundaries Boost Oxygen Evolution Reaction in NiFe Electrocatalysts",

abstract = "In a polycrystalline material, the grain boundaries (GBs) can be effective active sites for catalytic reactions by providing an electrodynamically favorable surface. Previous studies have shown that grain boundary density is related to the catalytic activity of the carbon dioxide reduction reaction, but there is still no convincing evidence that the GBs provide surfaces with enhanced activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Combination of various electrochemical measurements and chemical analysis reveals the GB density at surface of NiFe electrocatalysts directly affects the overall OER. In situ electrochemical microscopy vividly shows that the OER occurs mainly at the GB during overall reaction. It is observed that the reaction determining steps are altered by grain boundary densities and the meaningful work function difference between the inside of grain and GBs exists. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows that extremely high index planes are exposed at the GBs, enhancing the oxygen evolution activity. The specific nature of GBs and its effects on the OER demonstrated in this study can be applied to the various polycrystalline electrocatalysts.",

keywords = "NiFe alloys, electrocatalysts, grain boundaries, in situ electrochemical microscopy, oxygen evolution reaction",

author = "Park, {Hoon Kee} and Hehsang Ahn and Lee, {Tae Hyung} and Lee, {Jae Yoon} and Lee, {Mi Gyoung} and Lee, {Sol A.} and Yang, {Jin Wook} and Kim, {Sang Jun} and Ahn, {Sang Hyun} and Kim, {Soo Young} and Lee, {Chul Ho} and Park, {Eun Soo} and Jang, {Ho Won}",

note = "Funding Information: H.K.P. and H.S.A. contributed equally to this work. This research was supported by the Future Material Discovery Program (Grant No. 2018M3D1A1058793), Basic Research Laboratory of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) (MSIT), Korean government (2018R1A4A1022647), the NRF grant funded by the MSIT (2019M3E6A1103818), Basic Science Research Program through the NRF funded by MSIT (2017R1A2B3009135), and Institute of Engineering Research at the Seoul National University. C.‐H.L. acknowledges the support from the Korea University ‐ Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KU‐KIST) school project. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH",

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AU - Park, Hoon Kee

AU - Ahn, Hehsang

AU - Lee, Tae Hyung

AU - Lee, Jae Yoon

AU - Lee, Mi Gyoung

AU - Lee, Sol A.

AU - Yang, Jin Wook

AU - Kim, Sang Jun

AU - Ahn, Sang Hyun

AU - Kim, Soo Young

AU - Lee, Chul Ho

AU - Park, Eun Soo

AU - Jang, Ho Won

N1 - Funding Information: H.K.P. and H.S.A. contributed equally to this work. This research was supported by the Future Material Discovery Program (Grant No. 2018M3D1A1058793), Basic Research Laboratory of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) (MSIT), Korean government (2018R1A4A1022647), the NRF grant funded by the MSIT (2019M3E6A1103818), Basic Science Research Program through the NRF funded by MSIT (2017R1A2B3009135), and Institute of Engineering Research at the Seoul National University. C.‐H.L. acknowledges the support from the Korea University ‐ Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KU‐KIST) school project. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH

PY - 2021/2/15

Y1 - 2021/2/15

N2 - In a polycrystalline material, the grain boundaries (GBs) can be effective active sites for catalytic reactions by providing an electrodynamically favorable surface. Previous studies have shown that grain boundary density is related to the catalytic activity of the carbon dioxide reduction reaction, but there is still no convincing evidence that the GBs provide surfaces with enhanced activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Combination of various electrochemical measurements and chemical analysis reveals the GB density at surface of NiFe electrocatalysts directly affects the overall OER. In situ electrochemical microscopy vividly shows that the OER occurs mainly at the GB during overall reaction. It is observed that the reaction determining steps are altered by grain boundary densities and the meaningful work function difference between the inside of grain and GBs exists. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows that extremely high index planes are exposed at the GBs, enhancing the oxygen evolution activity. The specific nature of GBs and its effects on the OER demonstrated in this study can be applied to the various polycrystalline electrocatalysts.

AB - In a polycrystalline material, the grain boundaries (GBs) can be effective active sites for catalytic reactions by providing an electrodynamically favorable surface. Previous studies have shown that grain boundary density is related to the catalytic activity of the carbon dioxide reduction reaction, but there is still no convincing evidence that the GBs provide surfaces with enhanced activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Combination of various electrochemical measurements and chemical analysis reveals the GB density at surface of NiFe electrocatalysts directly affects the overall OER. In situ electrochemical microscopy vividly shows that the OER occurs mainly at the GB during overall reaction. It is observed that the reaction determining steps are altered by grain boundary densities and the meaningful work function difference between the inside of grain and GBs exists. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows that extremely high index planes are exposed at the GBs, enhancing the oxygen evolution activity. The specific nature of GBs and its effects on the OER demonstrated in this study can be applied to the various polycrystalline electrocatalysts.

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KW - electrocatalysts

KW - grain boundaries

KW - in situ electrochemical microscopy

KW - oxygen evolution reaction

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ER -

Grain Boundaries Boost Oxygen Evolution Reaction in NiFe Electrocatalysts

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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