title: Using surface segregation to design stable Ru-Ir oxides for the oxygen evolution reaction in acidic environments.
abstract: The methods used to improve catalytic activity are well-established, however elucidating the factors that simultaneously control activity and stability is still lacking, especially for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts. Here, by studying fundamental links between the activity and stability of well-characterized monometallic and bimetallic oxides, we found that there is generally an inverse relationship between activity and stability. To overcome this limitation, we developed a new synthesis strategy that is based on tuning the near-surface composition of Ru and Ir elements by surface segregation, thereby resulting in the formation of a nanosegregated domain that balances the stability and activity of surface atoms. We demonstrate that a Ru0.5Ir0.5 alloy synthesized by using this method exhibits four-times higher stability than the best Ru-Ir oxygen evolution reaction materials, while still preserving the same activity.
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 Cass Ave, Argonne, IL 60439 (USA).
authors.forename: Nemanja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Danilovic
authors.forename: Ramachandran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Subbaraman
authors.forename: Kee Chul
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Seo Hyoung
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yijin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.forename: Arvydas Paul
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Paulikas
authors.forename: Dusan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Strmcnik
authors.forename: Yong Tae
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: Vojislav R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Stamenkovic
authors.forename: Nenad M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Markovic
keywords: iridium; oxides; oxygen evolution reaction; ruthenium; surface chemistry