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Unraveling role of double-exchange interaction in electrochemical water oxidation by external magnetic field

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Abstract

Double-exchange (DE) interaction plays an important role in electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, precise achievement of DE interaction often requires foreign dopants or vacancy engineering, leading to destabilization of the catalysts and deterioration of performance. By contrast, the utilization of environmentally friendly, contactless, and continuously adjustable magnetic fields to study the OER process is profitable to avoid aforementioned interference factors and further elucidate the direct relationship 0.5between DE interaction and OER activity. Here, by using cobalt hydroxide carbonate (Co(OH)(CO3)·xH2O, CoHC) nanostructures as a proof-of-concept study, external magnetic fields are carefully implemented to verify the role of DE interaction during water oxidation reaction. Detailed studies reveal that external magnetic fields effectively enhance the reaction rate of the catalyst, the overpotential decreases from 386 to 355 mV (100 mA·cm−2), while Tafel slopes drastically decline from 93 to 67 mV·dec−1 (1.0 T). Moreover, magnetic field increment exhibits robust durability. Through in situ Raman and impedance measurements under external field, it can be found that magnetic field promotes the electron migration between Co2+ and Co3+ in the CoHC catalysts with the assistance of DE interactions, thus boosting the OER efficiency.

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摘要

双交换相互作用在电催化氧化反应中扮演着重要作用。然而，精确实现双交换相互作用往往需通过掺杂或空位调控等方法，导致催化剂的不稳定以及性能衰退。相比之下，利用环境友好、无接触且连续可调的外磁场来研究电催化氧化过程，可以避免上述干扰因素，有助于进一步阐明双交换相互作用和氧化反应活性之间的关系。本文中，我们以碱式碳酸钴（Co(OH)(CO3)0.5·xH2O, CoHC）纳米结构为模型，施加外部磁场进而验证双交换机制在水氧化反应中的作用。研究结果显示，外部磁场有效地提高了催化剂的反应速度，在100 mA·cm-2电流密度下，过电位从386 mV降至355 mV，而塔菲尔斜率从93 mV·dec-1下降到67 mV·dec-1（1.0 T）。此外，磁场下的电化学性能表现出优异的耐久性。通过原位拉曼和阻抗谱测量，我们发现在双交换相互作用的帮助下，外磁场促进了CoHC催化剂中Co2+和Co3+之间的电子迁移，进而提高了电催化氧化的效率。

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the Program B for Outstanding PhD Candidate of Nanjing University (No. 201801B067).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory for Nanotechnology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    Jun Li, Jun-Ming Li, Hong Hong, Dong-Xue Liu, Qing-Qi Cao & Dun-Hui Wang

  2. School of Electronics and Information, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Dun-Hui Wang

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  1. Jun Li
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Li, J., Li, JM., Hong, H. et al. Unraveling role of double-exchange interaction in electrochemical water oxidation by external magnetic field. Rare Met. 43, 289–297 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-023-02464-0

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