title: Effects of aqueous buffers on electrocatalytic water oxidation with an iridium oxide material electrodeposited in thin layers from an organometallic precursor.
abstract: A thin layer of an amorphous, mixed-valence iridium oxide (electrodeposited from an organometallic precursor, [Cp*Ir(H(2)O)(3)](2+)) is a heterogeneous catalyst among the most active and stable currently available for electrochemical water oxidation. We show that buffers can improve the oxygen-evolution activity of such thin-layer catalysts near neutral pH, but that buffer identity and concentration, as well as the solution pH, remain key determinants of long-term electrocatalyst activity and stability; for example, phosphate buffer can reduce the overpotential by up to 173 mV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Yale University, PO Box 208107, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, USA.
authors.forename: Maxwell N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Kushner-Lenhoff
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Blakemore
authors.forename: Nathan D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Schley
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Crabtree
authors.forename: Gary W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Brudvig