Eswar Muthusamy on Generation of new heterostructures for enhanced electrochemical water splitting

Generation of new heterostructures for enhanced electrochemical water splitting
Generation of high purity hydrogen through electrochemical route with zero carbon-emissions is a promising technology as compared to the industrial steam reforming process. The electrochemical water splitting however suffers from the sluggish kinetics of anodic oxygen evolution (OER) reaction. Though noble metal based electrocatalysts can enhance the OER activity, the prohibitively high cost limits their use in large scale. Various transition metal oxides, sulphides, nitrides, and phosphides are being explored as alternatives to noble metals but the poor conductivity, weak active sites, and stability over a wide pH range affect their performance in long run. In this talk, I will discuss how the new heterostructures created by simple chemical and electrochemical methods help to significantly enhance the performance of these catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction.
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