Observational analysis reveals adsorbed oxygen dynamics and their impact on overpotential in electrocatalytic processes, suggesting optimized interface design.
The oxygen evolution reaction is a prevalent anodic reaction in electrocatalytic processes. Modulation of adsorbed oxygen (*O) at the electrochemical interface is an effective means to reduce the overpotential of the oxygen evolution reaction. However, the contribution of various *O conversions to the overpotential remains unclear. Herein, the development of a multi-component forced convection electrochemical mass spectrometry constructs *O-labeled electrochemical interfaces with specific coverages to track the *O conversions. The relationships between the Faradic contributions and the specific *O conversion pathways are established by considering the anomalous fractionation of molecule oxygen. Our experiments confirm that *O coupling contributes up to 48% with a specific overpotential on full coverage platinum. Distinguishing the *O conversion contributions with various coverages reveals that balancing the *O formation and conversions, especially *O coupling enables further minimization of the overpotential of the oxygen evolution reaction. Thus, tracking the intermediate conversions has implications for designing high-performance electrocatalytic interfaces. The oxygen evolution reaction is central to electrochemistry, yet how its intermediates contribute to overpotential is unclear. Here, the authors use a multi-component forced-convection mass-spectrometry system to label adsorbed oxygen and reveal its conversion through product fractionation.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Chen et al. (2025) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: