Ultrasmall iridium nanoparticles on nitrogen-doped carbon cloth for efficient and durable acidic water splitting

Abstract

Ultrasmall Ir nanoparticles on N-doped carbon cloth (Ir/N-CC) achieve record-low acidic HER (12 mV) and OER (210 mV) overpotentials and long-term stability of 2000 hours at 10 mA cm⁻², surpassing Pt/C and IrO₂. The electrolyzer (Ir/N-CC‖Ir/N-CC) operates at 1.49 V for 10 mA cm⁻². The N-dopants enhance the kinetics via optimized *OH/*OOH adsorption.