1 research outputs found
Enhancing Perovskite Electrocatalysis through Strain Tuning of the Oxygen Deficiency
Oxygen vacancies in transition-metal
oxides facilitate catalysis
critical for energy storage and generation. However, promoting vacancies
at the lower temperatures required for operation in devices such as
metal–air batteries and portable fuel cells has proven elusive.
Here we used thin films of perovskite-based strontium cobaltite (SrCoO<sub><i>x</i></sub>) to show that epitaxial strain is a powerful
tool for manipulating the oxygen content under conditions consistent
with the oxygen evolution reaction, yielding increasingly oxygen-deficient
states in an environment where the cobaltite would normally be fully
oxidized. The additional oxygen vacancies created through tensile
strain enhance the cobaltite’s catalytic activity toward this
important reaction by over an order of magnitude, equaling that of
precious-metal catalysts, including IrO<sub>2</sub>. Our findings
demonstrate that strain in these oxides can dictate the oxygen stoichiometry
independent of ambient conditions, allowing unprecedented control
over oxygen vacancies essential in catalysis near room temperature