Copper-Intercalated Birnessite as a Water Oxidation Catalyst

Journal Article · Mon Oct 19 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Langmuir

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b02936· OSTI ID:1371092

Thenuwara, Akila C. ^[1]; Shumlas, Samantha L. ^[1]; Attanayake, Nuwan H. ^[1]; Cerkez, Elizabeth B. ^[1]; McKendry, Ian G. ^[1]; Frazer, Laszlo ^[1]; Borguet, Eric ^[1]; Kang, Qing ^[1]; Zdilla, Michael J. ^[1]; Sun, Jianwei ^[1]; Strongin, Daniel R. ^[1]

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1. Temple Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States)

Here, we report a synthetic method to increase the catalytic activity of birnessite toward water oxidation by intercalating copper in the interlayer region of the layered manganese oxide. Intercalation of copper, verified by XRD, XPS, ICP, and Raman spectroscopy, was accomplished by exposing a suspension of birnessite to a Cu⁺-bearing precursor molecule that underwent disproportionation in solution to yield Cu⁰ and Cu²⁺. Electrocatalytic studies reflected that the Cu-modified birnessite exhibited an overpotential for water oxidation of ~490 mV (at 10 mA/cm²) and a Tafel slope of 126 mV/decade compared to ~700 mV (at 10 mA/cm²) and 240 mV/decade, respectively, for birnessite without copper. Impedance spectroscopy results suggested that the charge transfer resistivity of the Cu-modified sample was significantly lower than Cu-free birnessite, suggesting that Cu in the interlayer increased the conductivity of birnessite leading to an enhancement of water oxidation kinetics. Density functional theory calculations show that the intercalation of Cu⁰ into a layered MnO₂ model structure led to a change of the electronic properties of the material from a semiconductor to a metallic-like structure. This conclusion from computation is in general agreement with the aforementioned impedance spectroscopy results. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that Cu⁰ coexisted with Cu²⁺ in the prepared Cu-modified birnessite. Control experiments using birnessite that was decorated with only Cu²⁺ showed a reduction in water oxidation kinetics, further emphasizing the importance of Cu⁰ for the increased activity of birnessite. The introduction of Cu⁰ into the birnessite structure also increased the stability of the electrocatalyst. At a working current of 2 mA, the Cu-modified birnessite took ~3 times longer for the overpotential for water oxdiation to increase by 100 mV compared to when Cu was not present in the birnessite.

• Research Organization: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for the Computational Design of Functional Layered Materials (CCDM)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0012575
• OSTI ID: 1371092
• Journal Information: Langmuir, Vol. 31, Issue 46; Related Information: CCDM partners with Temple University (lead); Brookhaven National Laboratory; Drexel University; Duke University; North Carolina State University; Northeastern University; Princeton University; Rice University; University of Pennsylvania; ISSN 0743-7463
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY