Strontium's loss is iridium's gain

Water Splitting Neither plants nor people split water with the goal of making oxygen. It is simply a by-product of liberating the H in H2O for downstream use. Nonetheless, the slow kinetics of the so-called oxygen evolution reaction (OER) pose a challenge to improving the efficiency of water-derived hydrogen production. Seitz et al. have enhanced iridium oxide catalysts using the strontium-bearing precursor SrIrO3 in acid conditions. Initially, strontium leaches out of the surface layers, leaving behind a highly active, stable OER catalyst. Science , this issue p. [1011][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaf5050