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Title: Electrochemical trapping of metastable Mn3+ ions for activation of MnO2 oxygen evolution catalysts

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [3]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  3. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  4. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Stanford Univ., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  5. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  6. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Electrodeposited manganese oxide films are promising catalysts for promoting the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), especially in acidic solutions. The activity of these catalysts is known to be enhanced by the introduction of Mn3+. We present in situ electrochemical and X-ray absorption spectroscopic studies, which reveal that Mn3+ may be introduced into MnO2 by an electrochemically induced comproportionation reaction with Mn2+ and that Mn3+ persists in OER active films. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra of the Mn3+-activated films indicate a decrease in the Mn–O coordination number, and Raman microspectroscopy reveals the presence of distorted Mn–O environments. Computational studies show that Mn3+ is kinetically trapped in tetrahedral sites and in a fully oxidized structure, consistent with the reduction of coordination number observed in EXAFS. Although in a reduced state, computation shows that Mn3+ states are stabilized relative to those of oxygen and that the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) is thus dominated by oxygen states. Furthermore, the Mn3+(Td) induces local strain on the oxide sublattice as observed in Raman spectra and results in a reduced gap between the HOMO and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). As a result, the confluence of a reduced HOMO–LUMO gap and oxygen-based HOMO results in the facilitation of OER on the application of anodic potentials to the δ-MnO2 polymorph incorporating Mn3+ ions.

Research Organization:
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Next Generation of Materials by Design: Incorporating Metastability (CNGMD); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308; AC02-76SF00515; 1541959; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1438083
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1458415; OSTI ID: 1485097
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 115, Issue 23; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 178 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Figures / Tables (5)