A highly efficient and durable carbon nanotube-based anode electrocatalyst for water electrolyzers†
Abstract
Iridium (Ir) nanoparticles with a uniform diameter of 1.1 ± 0.2 nm were homogeneously deposited on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) wrapped by polybenzimidazole (PBI), in which PBI enables efficient anchoring of the Ir nanoparticles. The Ir nanoparticles were electrochemically oxidized to afford Ir oxide (IrOx) and evaluated as an oxygen evolution reaction catalyst by half-cell measurements. The composite was also used as an anode electrocatalyst for proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs). It was revealed that the IrOx on the PBI-wrapped MWNTs exhibited a very high electrocatalytic mass activity and durability even compared to the other state-of-the-art Ir-based catalysts, while the IrOx deposited on conventional carbon black showed only a poor durability.