Lanthanum-mediated single-atom dispersion of Ir and Dynamic oxygen replenishment in acidic water oxidation

doi:10.1016/S1872-2067(26)65056-5

Abstract

Abstract: High-performance single-atom iridium (Ir) catalysts offer ultrahigh atomic utilization and can lower proton exchange membrane water electrolysis costs, but their improved oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity often sacrifices stability. Here, incorporation of lanthanum (La) enables atomic dispersion of Ir on cobalt spinel (Co₃O₄) surface and shifts the Ir active-site OER pathway from the conventional adsorbate evolution mechanism to a lattice oxygen-mediated mechanism (LOM). The strongly oxophilic La sites tune the local electronic structure of Ir and accelerate interfacial water dissociation, enabling real-time replenishment of lattice oxygen consumed during LOM that a key process mitigates catalyst degradation. Consequently, Ir/CoLaO_x shows an overpotential of 215 mV at 10 mA cm^‒2 in acid and sustains 200 mA cm^‒2 operation for 300 h in a full proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. This work provides a mechanistic framework for dynamic oxygen replenishment to stabilize lattice-oxygen catalysis and offers a strategy for designing atomically dispersed Ir catalysts for efficient, durable acidic OER.

Key words: Oxygen evolution reaction, Single atom, Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis, Hydrogen production, Electrocatalysis

Chen Cao, Shirui Cui, Feng Shi, Yanqin Li, Chunyang Zhao, Wei Hu, Zelong Li, Yu Tang. Lanthanum-mediated single-atom dispersion of Ir and Dynamic oxygen replenishment in acidic water oxidation[J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(26)65056-5.

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https://www.cjcatal.com/EN/Y2026/V/I/7

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