title: Electrochemical water oxidation by in situ-generated copper oxide film from [Cu(TEOA)(H2O)2][SO4] complex.
abstract: Although many noble-metal oxide catalysts show high activities and low overpotentials for water oxidation, there remain challenges in the sustainable developments of more inexpensive, efficient, and robust catalysts. Here, we report a heterogeneous copper oxide film toward water oxidation formed upon the oxidative polarization of an acetate electrolyte containing Earth-abundant Cu(II) salts in combination with commercially available triethanolamine (TEOA) as the catalyst precursor. A 1:1 molar ratio of TEOA coordinates to Cu(II) is favored in aqueous solution and the single crystal of the complex was obtained. The film has a modest overpotential of 550 mV and the catalytic performance of the material is demonstrated by long-term electrolysis at 1.3 V vs normal hydrogen electrode, a stable current density persists for at least 3 h, and a Faradaic efficiency of almost 100% is obtained.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and HKU-CAS Joint Laboratory on New Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) , Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ting-Ting
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xiao-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Wen-Fu
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Fu