Invited Paper DM2+BI+SS-ThA6
Stability Challenges in Electrocatalysis

Thursday, October 24, 2019, 4:00 pm, Room A212

Many industrially important electrochemical energy conversion technologies, such as electrolysis and fuel cells, rely on expensive noble metal electrocatalysts to accelerate reactions, and thus, improve energy conversion efficiency. Despite their relatively high stability, even noble metals are not completely immune. Indeed, the latter fact represents a considerable challenge in the wide-spread commercialization of electrolysers and fuel cells. Electrocatalyst or support corrosion, particle agglomeration and detachment, Ostwald ripening, structural and morphological changes are just a few examples of possible degradation processes.¹ These processes clearly illustrate the level of complexity one has to deal with in order to understand and circumvent degradation in real devices. Thus, it is difficult to imagine modern electrocatalysis research without advanced analytical tools. In this talk I will demonstrate that the application of on-line inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, on-line electrochemical mass spectrometry, and identical location transmission electron microscopy in electrocatalysis research can assist in clarifying the mechanisms leading to degradation. As some representative examples I will show degradation of the state-of-the-art and advanced platinum based catalysts in fuel cells and iridium based catalyst in water electrolysis.^2-4 Time will also be devoted to discussing application of alternative non-noble metal catalysts in the energy conversion technologies and their stability. Finally, stability in other electrocatalytic systems, e.g. photo-electrochemical water splitting or carbon dioxide reduction will be touched.

Literature:

1 Cherevko, S. Current Opinion in Electrochemistry8, 118-125 (2018).

2 Cherevko, S. et al. Nano Energy29, 275-298, (2016).

3 Kasian, O. et al. Angewandte Chemie57, 2488-2491 (2018).

4 Geiger, S. et al. Nature Catalysis1, 508-515 (2018).