Cobalt Assisted Synthesis of IrCu Hollow Octahedral Nanocages as Highly Active Electrocatalysts toward Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Development of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts with reduced precious metal content while enhancing catalytic performance has been of pivotal importance in cost-effective design of acid polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzers. Hollow multimetallic nanostructures with well-defined facets are ideally suited for saving the usage of expensive precious metals as well as boosting catalytic performances; however, Ir-based hollow nanocatalysts have rarely been reported. Here, a very simple synthetic scheme is reported for the preparation of hollow octahedral nanocages of Co-doped IrCu alloy with readily tunable morphology and size. The Co-doped IrCu octahedral nanocages show excellent electrocatalytic activity and long-term durability for OER in acidic media. Notably, their OER activity represents one of the best performances among Ir-based acidic OER catalysts.