“Supported iridium catalysts for low-cost water electrolysis”

Maira Amjad

Abstract

Iridium catalysts are highly active for the oxygen evolution reaction in proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers. The high cost of iridium, however limits the widespread use of these devices. One approach to solve this issue is to use small iridium particles or thin iridium coatings supported over various inexpensive substrates to maximize the mass activity and therefore minimize the total amount of iridium required. The challenge is to identify the substrate material which enables the supported iridium to be as active and stable for the oxygen evolution reaction as possible. A combination of electronic and geometric interactions between iridium and the support drives changes in the catalytic performance of the supported catalyst. In this research, we designed an approach by using density functional theory to calculate the adsorption energy of single iridium atom, small iridium islands, and a complete iridium overlayer on transition metals and transition metal compounds, including carbides, borides and nitrides, to estimate the stability of iridium across these supports. Using these DFT results, we will discuss the design of different catalyst supports and the identification of support properties which correlate with high activity and stability of the supported iridium to achieve the best performance.

Monday, 03/31/2025 at 3:00 pm

CAMP 194

https://clarkson.zoom.us/j/95529580049

Maira Amjad is a PhD Candidate in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the McCrum Group, Clarkson University. Her research focuses on study of iridium supported catalysts for water electrolysis by using Computational Modeling. Prior to joining the Clarkson, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Lahore College for women and Master degree in Solid State Physics from University of Punjab, Pakistan.