Tetraruthenium Polyoxometalate as an Atom-Efficient Bifunctional Oxygen Evolution Reaction/Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalyst and Its Application in Seawater Batteries > Publication | UNIST YK RESEARCH

Publication

Publication

Tetraruthenium Polyoxometalate as an Atom-Efficient Bifunctional Oxygen Evolution Reaction/Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalyst and Its Application in Seawater Batteries
Author
Cheolmin Lee, Dasom Jeon, Jehee Park, Wonsuk Lee, Jaehyun Park, Seok Ju Kang, Youngsik Kim, and Jungki Ryu
Journal
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Vol
12
Page
32689-32697
Year
2020
Although development and utilization of efficient catalysts with earth-abundant and cheap elements are desired, precious noble metal-based catalysts are still widely used and studied due to the urgent need to address energy and environmental issues. Polyoxometalates (POMs) can be excellent candidates in this context. In this study, we found that oxo-bridged tetraruthenium polyoxometalate (RuPOM) exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity for both oxygen evolution and reduction reactions (OER and ORR) with minimal use of noble metal elements and can be used for the development of efficient seawater batteries (SWBs). The deposition of RuPOM on a desired electrode with conducting carbon Ketjen black (KB) by the simple slurry coating method imparted bifunctional OER/ORR activity to the underlying electrode. Although the mass activity was similar, RuPOM/KB mixtures exhibited superior activity even compared to commercially available Pt/C when comparing the activity per noble metal element. Based on these findings, we employed RuPOM to develop efficient SWBs. RuPOM significantly lowered the charging potential and increased the discharging potential of SWBs, which are related to OER and ORR, respectively. This study can provide insights into the development of POM-based electrocatalysts and their application in energy storage and conversion devices.