Co/Mo bimetallic addition to electrolytic manganese dioxide for oxygen generation in acid medium

An efficient electrocatalyst comprising inexpensive and earth-abundant materials for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for the development of water electrolysis. In this work, in-situ addition of cobalt/molybdenum ions to the electrolytic manganese dioxide has been shown to be beneficial for the OER in acid solution as its overpotential performed better (305 mV) than that of the commercial DSA(®) (341 mV) at 100 mA cm(-2). The OER was investigated at ambient temperature in 2 M H2SO4 solution on the modified EMD (MnMoCoO) electrodes. The energy efficiency of the MnMoCoO electrodes improved significantly with the amount of Co in the plating solution. For the electrodeposited catalysts, physico-chemical and electrochemical measurements were conducted including static overpotentials. The better performance of the modified EMD was attributed to an improved charge transfer resistance (Rct; 0.290 Ω cm(2)), average roughness factor (rf; 429) and decrease in water content in the electrodeposited catalysts. The kinetic parameters obtained on MnMoCoO catalysts were compared and discussed according to the cobalt concentration.