Highly conductive composite anode catalysts featuring a fused Ir nano-network towards proton exchange membrane electrocatalysis

Abstract

A boride-assisted method has been presented to synthesize a fused Ir nano-network supported on TiO₂ as highly conductive composite catalysts (Ir NN@TiO₂) for the reaction of oxygen evolution in acid. The Ir NN@TiO₂ can be utilized to construct an anode catalyst layer of a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) with a low iridium content of 0.3 mg_Ir cm⁻². The low-iridium-loading PEMWE exhibits excellent performance, i.e., 2.9 A cm⁻²@1.9 V with Nafion 115 membrane, and operates stably at a current density of 1.0 A cm⁻² for over 1000 h.