Bifunctional non-noble metal oxide/chalcogenide nanoparticle electrocatalysts through lithium-induced conversion for overall water-splitting

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016289852-A1
Application number	US-201615088573-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 1, 2016
Priority date	Apr 2, 2015
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Described here is a method for improving the catalytic activity of an electrocatalyst, comprising subjecting the electrocatalyst to 1-10 galvanostatic lithiation/delithiation cycles, wherein the electrocatalyst comprises at least one transition metal oxide (TMO) or transition metal chalcogenide (TMC). Also described here is an electrocatalyst and a water-splitting device comprising the electrocatalyst.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for improving a catalytic activity of an electrocatalyst, comprising subjecting the electrocatalyst to 1-10 galvanostatic lithiation/delithiation cycles, wherein the electrocatalyst comprises at least one transition metal oxide (TMO) or transition metal chalcogenide (TMC).

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrocatalyst is subjected to 1 - 5 galvanostatic lithiation/delithiation cycles.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the electrocatalyst is subjected to 2 galvanostatic lithiation/delithiation cycles.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrocatalyst comprises at least one transitional metal selected from Fe, Co, and Ni.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrocatalyst comprises at least one TMO selected from cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, iron oxide, and mixed oxide of nickel and iron.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrocatalyst comprises nanoparticles having at least one lateral dimension of 5-100 nm before the galvanostatic lithiation/delithiation cycles.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrocatalyst comprises nanoparticles having at least one lateral dimension of 10-50 nm before the galvanostatic lithiation/delithiation cycles.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrocatalyst comprises nanoparticles having at least one lateral dimension of 1-10 nm after the galvanostatic lithiation/delithiation cycles.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrocatalyst comprises nanoparticles having at least one lateral dimension of 2-5 nm after the galvanostatic lithiation/delithiation cycles.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrocatalyst comprises interconnected crystalline nanoparticles having at least one lateral dimension of 2-5 nm after the galvanostatic lithiation/delithiation cycles.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrocatalyst comprises TMO or TMC nanoparticles disposed on a carbon-based substrate.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrocatalyst comprises TMO or TMC nanoparticles disposed on a carbon-based substrate at a mass loading of 1-10 mg/cm 2 or 2-5 mg/cm 2 .

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising incorporating the electrocatalyst in a water splitting device.

14 . An electrocatalyst for water-splitting, comprising a TMO or TMC nanoparticle, wherein the TMO or TMC nanoparticle comprises a plurality of interconnected crystalline nanoparticles.

15 . The electrocatalyst of claim 14 , wherein the TMO nanoparticle comprises cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, iron oxide, or mixed oxide of nickel and iron.

16 . The electrocatalyst of claim 14 , wherein the interconnected crystalline nanoparticles have at least one lateral dimension of 2-5 nm.

17 . The electrocatalyst of claim 14 , wherein the interconnected crystalline nanoparticles have different crystalline orientations.

18 . The electrocatalyst of claim 14 , further comprising a carbon-based substrate, wherein the TMO or TMC nanoparticle is attached to the carbon-based substrate and wherein the carbon-based substrate is selected from carbon nanofiber (CNF) or carbon fiber paper (CFP).

19 . A water-splitting device comprising the electrocatalyst of claim 14 .

20 . The water-splitting device of claim 19 , comprising:
an anode; a cathode; and an electrolyte disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the anode and the cathode both comprise the electrocatalyst of claim 14 .

Assignees

• Univ Leland Stanford Junior

Inventors

• Cui Yi
• Wang Haotian

Classifications

• C25B11/0415

  Chemistry & Metallurgy · mapped topic

• C25B11/0405

  Chemistry & Metallurgy · mapped topic

• C25B11/0447 Primary

  Chemistry & Metallurgy · mapped topic

• C25B11/067

  Inorganic compound e.g. ITO, silica or titania · CPC title

• C25B11/051

  Electrodes formed of electrocatalysts on a substrate or carrier · CPC title